After a pretty lengthy time away, we’re back to the pay per view days for TNA and that might not be a bad thing. The build for this show has gotten more a lot more interested than I expected to be and now I want to see if they can pay that build up off. That’s the tricky part though as you never know how the whole thing is going to work. The main event is Nic Nemeth challenging Mike Santana for the World Title so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Mara Sade vs. Indi Hartwell vs. Elayna Black

I’m still trying to figure out why Black is treated as such a big deal, as I really do not see the success there to warrant it. She’s far from bad, but she has made no impact since her arrival in TNA and I often forget that she’s part of the roster. Maybe that changes here, but I really can’t imagine that being the case after such a long time of pretty much nothing from her thus far.

That leaves Sade and Hartwell as your realistic options here and I’ll take the former for the win. Sade has gotten somewhere with her charisma and general appeal and it’s working well for her. Given that she was little more than Lash Legend’s lackey in NXT, this is quite the step up for her and I’m curious to see what she can do on her own. Give her a win here and see what’s next around here.

Ricky Sosa vs. Eric Young

Oh dear it’s this match. For the life of me I do not get Eric Young and I haven’t for a long time. He’ll pop up, pick a new target, say the same things, lose, and then move on like nothing has changed. Sosa is his latest target and it’s hard to fathom that he’s going to be any different for Young. The whole idea of Young as this evil force is quite the miscast and I do not get the appeal but we’re here anyway.

I’ll go with Sosa to win here, as there is no point in having him lose to someone like Young, who loses all of the time. I’m not sure what Sosa is going to be but TNA is really in need of some new stars, so put him out there and see what he can do. It’s worth a shot and beating a former multiple time World Champion is a good start, especially if it gets Young off the show for a few weeks.

AJ Francis vs. Elijah

This is a battle for Elijah’s name, likeness and music catalog, because that’s a thing we’re doing in wrestling. As ridiculous as it might sound, I do appreciate the idea of having a less than normal reason for a feud in wrestling. This is Francis taking away the thing that defines Elijah the most and that is going to make Elijah mad as a result. Francis has been doing well as a big man too so it’s certainly worth a try.

As much as I would like to see Francis win here and see where he can go with things, it doesn’t make sense for Elijah to lose. I’ll take Elijah to win, as what in the world is he without his music deal? We tried that with the whole Ezekiel thing in WWE and we’ve seen how that worked out, so I’ll go with Elijah here, if nothing else for the sake of keeping his career going.

Knockouts Title: Lei Ying Lee(c) vs. Xia Brookside

Every so often you get a pretty much perfect setup for a big moment and that’s what we have here. Brookside turned on her friend out of jealousy over not being able to win the title and now gets a title shot. It helps that Brookside has turned into quite a nice heel in the process, which is impressive for someone who is fairly small in stature and easy to cheer in the first place.

There is a grand total of zero reason for Brookside to lose here so I’ll go with the logical result and say she wins the title. Lee is already a two time champion and hardly the biggest star in the world, so go with Brookside getting her big moment and see what she can do as champion. It’s kind of overdue at this point and if she loses, she’s basically dead in the water anyway. So yeah, new champion here.

X-Division Title: Ultimate X

Here we have the signature match of TNA and it makes sense to bring it out of mothballs for the anniversary show. They’re also bringing Amazing Red back, which should quite the nice thing to see. Red had a heck of a match with Bandido over Wrestlemania Weekend and he can still more than go. Seeing him back in the ring is an interesting idea, even if he has pretty much no chance of winning.

Red is one of a few wrestlers you can probably write off, along with Mr. Elegance. That leaves a host of people to win and I’m going to go with an underdog in KC Navarro. He’s come a long way lately and this is the kind of match where they can make him into something without having him get a big pin. I’m not saying it’ll work, but I think they could do it here. Granted this kind of thing is a total shot in the dark but why not have some fun?

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: The Elegance Brand(c) vs. Rosemary/Allie

Just name Rosemary and Allie the Undead Realm already. Anyway, this is an interesting one as normally I would say that there is no reason to leave the titles on the Brand but they’re kind of great with having the titles as accessories. It makes them even more annoying and that’s a perfect thing for a stable built around the idea of getting on the fans’ nerves. I’m just not sure they’ll keep the belts.

Yeah I think I’ll go with the title change here, as Rosemary and Allie are popular enough at the moment to warrant getting the gold. If nothing else, the Brand is going to be able to drive everyone crazy with or without the titles so let them drop the belts for now. They can easily win them back later if necessary, but for now, Allie and Rosemary are a better option for the win here.

International Title: Mustafa Ali(c) vs. ???

This is one that’s hard to predict, as there is only so much you can do without knowing who is getting the title shot. There have been some rumored names, including at least one who used to be in WWE, but no one really stands out all that well. If nothing else, Ali deserves to hold onto the title longer as he’s getting somewhere with his stuff (as he tends to do when he’s given the chance).

I’ll take Ali to retain over whomever he is facing, even if I want to see him get into the World Title picture sooner rather than later. Ali is someone with the talent to make this work and you can almost guarantee that he’ll be doing something special around election season. For now though, he retains, likely with the help of his goons, though I’m almost worried to see who he’s going to be facing here.

Eddie Edwards vs. Moose

This is, at least in theory, the final blowoff to Moose vs. The System, though it feels like we should have been at that point months ago. The idea here is that you can only lose if your corner person (Alisha Edwards and JDC) throw in the towel to end the match. That opens the door for some shenanigans and it comes down to whom is going to screw the other one over.

I’ll go with Edwards winning here, as it feels like they have set up JDC to mess with Moose again because that’s the kind of thing TNA would do. I’m not sure how you pay that off down the line if JDC is retired, but for now at least, Moose loses again. This feud has gone on far too long already and at this point, I’ll take it ending in whatever way they can figure out.

Tag Team Titles: The System(c) vs. Hardys vs. The Righteous vs. Great Hands

Say it with me: it’s a ladder match! The level of eye rolling I did when that was announced should come with a doctor’s warning but here we are again. The Hardys almost have to be in a ladder match every so often because the law of diminishing returns means nothing in wrestling. It also doesn’t help that the non-Righteous teams are just kind of there, which should tell you where this is going.

The Righteous should take the titles here, as they should have done six months ago. I get that the Hardys are big stars but how many title reigns does one team need? On the other hand you have the Great Hands, who were randomly thrown into this match for reasons I don’t quite get. That leave the champions and, well, does anyone believe they’re the top team in the company right now?

TNA World Title: Mike Santana(c) vs. Nic Nemeth

This is one of the more impressive showings that TNA has had in a minute, as they have taken a pretty nothing story and turned it into one of the hotter feuds going into the pay per view. Nemeth is cashing in his Call Your Shot win and just got a title shot. The catch though, as usual with Santana, is bringing up his daughter, who is his one weak spot. Nic and Ryan Nemeth have gone after Santana over and over but they might have just ticked him off beyond belief. I’m just not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

At the end of the day, it seems all but guaranteed that Santana is going to WWE sooner rather than later. The question is whether he drops the title here or later and I think he’ll hang onto it for now. TNA and WWE have a working relationship so Santana doesn’t have to cut all of his ties to go over. It should be interesting to see how it goes, but if they have a big fight with Santana winning, he can move on to whomever is going to take the title as he leaves. For now though, he retains.

Overall Thoughts

For the first time in WAY too long, I’m actually excited about this. The problem is that at the end of the day, this is still TNA and that means there is a real chance of letdown. I’m almost scared to get my hopes up that far as they have been dashed far too many times over the years. The potential is there though and if everything works out, we could be in for a heck of a Sunday afternoon.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 1991
Date: August 26, 1991
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 20,000
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Roddy Piper, Gorilla Monsoon

It’s a double main event, but in this case only one of those is a match. We have a handicap tag match between Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior and the Iraqi sympathizers (ignore that the war had been over for months by this point) and a wedding between Randy Savage and Elizabeth. That’s quite the contrast, which is the selling point of the show. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the Match Made In Heaven (the wedding) and the Match Made In Hell (Hogan/Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter/General Adnan/Colonel Mustafa).

Commentary welcomes us to the show.

The Dragon/Texas Tornado/British Bulldog vs. Power & Glory/Warlord

Dragon works on Roma’s arm to start and lifts him into the air to keep up the cranking. Tornado comes in to send Hercules into the corner over and over but a rake to the eyes cuts that off. It’s off to Bulldog vs. Warlord, with Bulldog grabbing a quick suplex. Dragon comes back in with a chop to Warlord’s head but a monkey flip is blocked (with Warlord not doing much, leaving Steamboat to just jump backwards).

The villains take over, with Roma getting two off a snap suplex. Some backbreakers from Roma set up Hercules’ delayed gorilla press as the beating continues. A clothesline cuts off the comeback attempt but Warlord, who is known for going up top, dives into raised boots, allowing the tag off to Tornado. Everything breaks down and Bulldog powerslams Roma for two (what a surprising kickout), followed by Dragon’s high crossbody for the win at 10:46.

Rating: C. This was a perfectly fine way to start the show, even with Roma’s kind of weird kickout at the end. Dragon was his usual good self, Bulldog was fine as a power guy and Tornado managed to not get lost coming to the ring so we’ll call it a success. Nice way to start the show, as a six man often is.

Mr. Perfect, with the Coach, says Bret Hart isn’t perfect enough to take the Intercontinental Title.

Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart

Hart is challenging and Coach is here with Perfect. Hart’s parents are here in the crowd, just in case you didn’t realize this was a big moment. They take their time to start until Hart shoulders him down and sends Perfect crashing out to the floor. Back in and Hart grabs a headlock takeover to grind away for a pretty good while until Perfect gets up. That means a clothesline out to the floor, with Coach needing to do…well some coaching actually.

Perfect teases walking out but Hart sends him back inside, tearing Perfect’s singlet in the process. Back in and Perfect actually bothers to fight, knocking Hart outside and chopping him down. Hart is right back in to hammer away and a rollup gets two. Perfect cuts that off in a hurry and sends Hart back outside as Perfect is starting to overwhelm him. Hart gets inside again and is promptly caught in a sleeper.

A Samoan drop of all things gives Perfect two and he sends Hart hard into the corner for the same. The PerfectPlex gets two and the kickout has the fans right back into this. Hart hits some atomic drops to put Perfect in trouble for a change and the hair toss into the corner kind of crotches Perfect on the post. The Russian legsweep gives Hart two and the backbreaker into the middle rope elbow gets the same.

Hart sends him outside again for a posting (and of course Perfect’s bumping is great) before it’s time to kick at the leg back inside. Coach has to get on the apron to block a Sharpshooter (and remind us that he’s a thing), with the distraction allowing Perfect to kick the rope for a low blow. Perfect drops a leg between the legs but Hart blocks a second and reverses it into the Sharpshooter for the (very fast) submission and the title at 18:05 and kickstart his singles run.

Rating: A. Oh what else were you expecting? This match has been revered for decades now and that will be the case for a long time to come. It’s a great back and forth match with Hart getting his first major singles win and proving he can hang with the best of them. When the only flaw is “Perfect gave up really fast”, you’re doing something right. Awesome match, mainly due to how well both of them were able to do just about everything. You could see both of them doing their parts to almost perfection and it made for an all time classic.

Post match Hart rips the rest of the singlet off of Perfect and poses with the title, even going to celebrate with his parents.

Buy this Hulk Hogan pay per view!

Andre The Giant, looking terrible, is with the Bushwhackers and we see a clip of Earthquake attacking Andre and injuring his knee. Now Andre is backing the Bushwhackers to get revenge. Just because he’s big doesn’t mean he’s smart.

Natural Disasters vs. Bushwhackers

Jimmy Hart is here with the Disasters and Andre is with the Bushwhackers. They walk around to start until the Disasters go after Andre, earning themselves a double poke to the eyes from the Bushwhackers. Heenan: “If I was managing the Bushwhackers, I’d commit suicide.” We settle down to Butch vs. Typhoon with Butch getting backed into the corner but biting his way to freedom.

Earthquake makes the save (if you need to be saved from the Bushwhackers, perhaps it’s time to search for alternate employment) but the Bushwhackers clear the ring in short order. We settle back down to Earthquake hammering away on Butch as Heenan wonders which one is Larry, Darryl and Darryl. Butch gets crushed in the corner and has to fight out of a bearhug.

Typhoon elbows him in the face for two as Heenan leaves commentary to go talk to Hulk Hogan. That’s an odd change but Monsoon and Piper are happy. Butch gets away and brings in Luke to actually clean house. The Battering Rams send Earthquake to the floor, where he gives Butch a backbreaker. Luke steps on Typhoon’s toes but Typhoon can’t even sell that, allowing Earthquake to jump Luke from behind. The Earthquake is good for the pin at 6:27.

Rating: D. Well there was no way they were following the previous match, but what were they expecting out of this one? The match was never going to be much more than a squash and there was no reason to think otherwise. On top of that, Andre looked absolutely terrible and it was sad to see him out there barely able to move as such a shell of his former self.

Post match the Disasters go after Andre but the Legion Of Doom come out to cut that off in a hurry. There’s your next big tag feud.

Heenan, with the Big Gold Belt, goes to Hulk Hogan’s dressing room to issue a challenge on behalf of Ric Flair. Hogan knocks the belt out of his hands and slams the door. Well in theory at least, as we never actually hear Hogan or see his face.

Randy Savage is talking to fans on a phone line.

Ted DiBiase laughs at some of the things he has made Virgil do for him over the years. Tonight, DiBiase is ready to take Virgil out again for daring to challenge for the Million Dollar Title. This is a city full of gutters so Virgil can pick where he wants to go. And he’ll throw in a crying towel!

Million Dollar Title: Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil

DiBiase, with Sherri, is defending. Virgil hammers away to start fast and DiBiase is knocked to the floor early on. Back in and an atomic drop sends DiBiase crashing out to the floor again but this time DiBiase gets in a knockdown of his own. Heenan is back on commentary, with Piper saying that’s it for the fun.

DiBiase sends Virgil knees first into the steps and it’s time for the falling fists back inside. The beating continues as Heenan thinks Virgil is dumb enough to have the gold title bronzed. Back up and Virgil ducks a right hand and grabs the Million Dollar Dream. DiBiase is in trouble and Sherri brings in the loaded purse for the DQ at 6:27.

Actually hang on a second as the referee isn’t ending the match, but rather ejecting Sherri and continuing the match. Piper, Virgil’s friend and trainer, is THRILLED as Virgil hammers away in the corner but the referee gets bumped. DiBiase stops to taunt Piper and then drops Virgil with some suplexes. The piledriver plants Virgil but there is no referee, even as Piper is LOSING HIS MIND screaming for Virgil. The turnbuckle pad is removed but DiBiase takes too much time and gets sent into the exposed buckle. Virgil slowly crawls over and gets the pin and the title at 13:12, sending Piper through the roof.

Rating: C+. This was the pinnacle of everything with Virgil as he wins the title, but much more importantly he beats his former boss, who was a huge star in his own right. Piper deserves some credit here too, as he was pushing Virgil as hard as he could. It made you want to see Virgil win and that’s a great addition to the whole thing. Not an all time classic, but an emotional match that paid off a story years in the making.

Virgil gets the big celebration in a nice moment.

The Mountie is ready to beat Big Boss Man and then see him locked up in jail. He wants these New York police guards to brutalize Boss Man for a bonus. We also see some clips of Mountie using his shock stick on Boss Man, which is a rather violent way to set up a feud. It should be shocking that Boss Man is mad.

Boss Man is ready to send Mountie to jail.

Big Boss Man vs. The Mountie

The loser spends the night in jail and Jimmy Hart is here with the Mountie. Boss Man punches him in the face to start fast and cuts off a comeback with a hard spinebuster. The neck crank has Mountie in trouble so Hart offers a distraction. The chase is on and Boss Man is sent into the steps, with Heenan being rather pleased. Back in and Mountie’s slam gets two, followed by an elbow for the same as things slow WAY down.

A kickout sends Mountie flying out to the floor, with Monsoon calling Hart a walking advertisement for birth control. Geez that’s harsh even for Monsoon. Back in and Mountie bites Boss Man’s face before getting him up for a piledriver. With nothing else working, Hart gets on the apron but Mountie misses the shock stick shot. The Boss Man Slam….only gets two (that’s not something you see very often) so it’s a rather nasty Alabama Slam to finish Mountie off at 9:33.

Rating: C. The match was slow, but this was all about the ending and the post match shenanigans. As weird as it was to have the Boss Man Slam only get two, it was a good false finish before the pretty great looking Alabama Slam. Mountie’s time on offense was so slow though and it brought down the rest of the match.

Post match Boss Man has Mountie cuffed immediately and he’s dragged out back to the police van.

Ted DiBiase thinks he was robbed.

Bret Hart says Mr. Perfect just wasn’t perfect enough.

Jimmy Hart wants his lawyers to deal with the Mountie while the Natural Disasters threaten the Legion Of Doom.

Big Boss Man says a jailbird can’t fly and promises more torment for the Mountie tonight.

Randy Savage is still busy talking to fans and Gene Okerlund can only get some quick comments about him being ready for the wedding.

Five minute intermission, thankfully omitted.

Commentary does their preview/recap to fill in time.

The Mountie is taken to jail, where he screams his catchphrase as he’s put in the cell.

Jimmy Hart, now with the Nasty Boys, says his lawyer is on his way to the jail. The Nasty Boys accuse the Legion Of Doom and Jack Tunney of “coagulating” together against them.

Mountie gets his picture taken, despite being upset, sending Hart into a crazed rant about how that’s an invasion of privacy. Hart is hilarious in these over the top segments.

The Legion Of Doom is ready to win the Tag Team Titles. Then they’re ready for the Natural Disasters.

Mountie gets fingerprinted, again against his will.

The Triangle Of Terror (looking ancient, because they mostly were) say the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan are the ones who are outnumbered. Sgt. Slaughter teases having a surprise for the match.

Sid Justice (guest referee in the main event) promises to call the main event down the line. We see a clip of the Triangle Of Terror talking to Justice earlier and offering him a spot on the team. Back live, Sid says he didn’t promise them a thing (and we never heard him give an answer) but tonight, justice will be served. Is he going to dinner or something?

Tag Team Titles: Legion Of Doom vs. Nasty Boys

The Nasty Boys, with Jimmy Hart, are defending and this is No DQ/No Countout. The Legion cleans house to start, with Hawk even hitting an enziguri for two on Sags. Animal and Knobbs brawl to distract the referee and Sags sprays Hawk with something, which commentary ignores. A tray of drinks to the back has Hawk in more trouble and Sags ax handles him in the back to keep him down.

Knobbs comes in to clothesline Hawk, even as the camera shot is from the corner for some reason. A running splash hits in the corner but a middle rope version hits a raised boot. Animal comes in to clean house, including the powerslam for two on Knobbs. Hawk gets sent to the floor and Hart sends in his helmet, with a shot to the back rocking Animal. The delayed cover gets two but Hawk takes away the helmet and clocks Sags. The Doomsday Device gives us new champions at 7:45.

Rating: C+. Pretty quick and to the point here, though it wasn’t total destruction. What matters the most here is that the Legion Of Doom get up to the top, as they had felt like the most dominant team for a good while. It helps that they kept this as more of a brawl than a match, which suited both of them better. The other thing that stood out here: Hawk and Animal looked happy to win. They were raising their hands and hugging each other, which is how you should celebrate a huge moment. Do that kind of thing more often.

Mountie is put in a cell. One very cool detail here: on the Superstars leading into this show, Mountie had promised that Boss Man would do each of these things in order but then had to do it himself. That’s a nice bit of continuity that you don’t often see around here and it made things a little better if you were paying attention.

IRS vs. Greg Valentine

Heenan: “This will be a good match.” Might want to try again there Brain. Feeling out process to start with Valentine knocking IRS outside. As we slow things down a bit (yes, in this match), Monsoon passes on a rumor that Jake Roberts and Undertaker (a freshly evil pairing) have been seen around here. Back in and Valentine slams him for another trip to the floor, this time following him to hammer away.

IRS gets in a cheap shot and the abdominal stretch goes on, followed by a big clothesline for two. The chinlock goes on as Heenan asks if Monsoon and Piper’s parents wore suspenders (like IRS). Heenan realizes there’s no point in asking Piper as his parents were never home, which seems to touch a nerve. Anyway Valentine cuts him off the top and starts in on the leg, with the Figure Four sending IRS over to the ropes. Valentine stays on the leg but gets small packaged to give IRS the pin at 7:10.

Rating: C-. As usual, I have no idea what the point was in Valentine’s face turn, as the matches might have been technically fine but it’s not like there was anything interesting about him. IRS wasn’t much better and that didn’t make for much of a match. It wasn’t terrible by any means, but what was anyone expecting out of this one?

Buy the Hulk Hogan pay per view!

Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior are ready for the Triangle Of Terror. Hogan says this is the perfect battleground while Warrior says they’ll walk instead of coming by boat or air. They’ll walk out the same too. We get a double Hogan catchphrase and Warrior gives him a rather odd looking….we’ll call it a hug.

Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior vs. Triangle Of Terror

Sid Justice is guest referee. Slaughter and Hogan start things off, with Sid taking away a foreign object and yelling at Slaughter to quite the reaction. Hogan actually doesn’t capitalize and gets pummeled in the corner, only to come back with a hard whip into another corner. Slaughter gets caught between Hogan and Warrior (much like his title reign), with Warrior coming in for an atomic drop.

Hogan comes back in to send him into the corner and adds a middle rope ax handle for two, with Mustafa kind of touching Hogan’s shoulder for the….I guess you could call it a save. Hogan chokes away in the corner but Sid actually breaks it up to keep things even. Slaughter gets in a cheap shot so Adnan can come in and slowly chop away. Mustafa’s gutwrench suplex (that always looked good) sets up the camel clutch, with Piper making a rare reference to Mustafa being the Iron Sheik.

That’s broken up even faster than it was in 1983 and it’s back to Slaughter, who goes up. Warrior shoves him off the top, with Slaughter DIVING across the ring for a crazy visual. It’s back to Warrior to clean house but Mustafa cheats to cut him off. A suplex gets Warrior out of trouble but Slaughter gets back in to break up the tag.

The big flying clothesline gets Warrior out of trouble and there’s the big tag to Hogan. Everything breaks down and Warrior gets a chair to chase Mustafa and Adnan to the back (where he was promptly fired by Vince McMahon). Hogan uses the distraction to throw powder into Slaughter’s eyes and drops the leg for the pin (with a FAST count) at 12:41.

Rating: C-. What were you expecting here? Hogan had already beaten Slaughter on his own at Wrestlemania and adding in two old guys wasn’t going to be enough to overcome the addition of the Warrior. Normally this wouldn’t feel like the main event of Summerslam, but keep in mind that this is the fourth Summerslam and the third to have a tag match main event. That’s kind of what Summerslam did, though this never had the slightest bit of drama, with Sid mostly being a non-factor.

Post match Hogan makes funny faces and then calls Sid back to pose with him. Because they’re best friends and would never split up of course.

Mountie meets a man in leather in his cell. Make your own jokes. Or don’t.

We recap Randy Savage proposing to Elizabeth (Piper: “GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES!”), who of course responded with an awesome OH YEAH.

We get a music video of Savage and Elizabeth, which really is one of the best long term stories the company has ever done. Savage grew and changed over the course of the whole thing and that’s why it worked: it was a story with people involved and you could see how we got here over the years.

With the video done (and the ring ready for the wedding), Savage comes out in his white tuxedo and feathered hat (of course) and we get the ring bearer/flower girl. Elizabeth comes out, everyone swoons, the minister does his thing, Savage takes the sunglasses off to say OH YEAH, Elizabeth says yes, they get married, they leave, the show ends. This was the better part of fifteen minutes and…well it certainly happened. This would later be followed by the reception, which was crashed by Undertaker and Jake Roberts, setting off Roberts’ feud with Savage and eventually Undertaker’s face turn. For now though, just a wedding.

Overall Rating: C+. This isn’t a show you watch for the wrestling (save for that whole all time classic thing near the beginning), but it’s the definition of an easy to watch, fun show. That was kind of the theme of Summerslam back in the day, as there would be one or two things in the middle, but it wasn’t the kind of show where something major was going down. It was about the good guys getting a win to set up something for later and that’s what we got here. This might not be a classic, but there is enough fun stuff to keep you entertained for a few hours.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Night Of Champions 2026
Date: June 27, 2026
Location: Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the tournament show with the King and Queen Of The Ring both being crowned. In addition though we have the Smackdown World Title on the line with Cody Rhodes defending against Gunther and Sami Zayn. There’s a cage match as well to make this even bigger so let’s get to it.

King Of The Ring: Jey Uso vs. Oba Femi

The fans certainly seem to like the Uso entrance and it does look awesome in this venue. Uso hits him in the face to start and it doesn’t exactly work, as Femi just gets mad. Femi knocks him outside but Uso is back up for a dive to send Femi into the barricade. Another dive is blocked though and Femi takes him inside for some whips into the corner.

The Fall From Grace is escaped though and Uso hits some basement superkicks. The Superfly Splash only gets one (uh oh) and Femi chokeslams him for two more. Uso comes back with a spear and hits another Superfly Splash but his own ribs are banged up. Another Superfly Splash gets two but Femi is right back up with a running uppercut. Uso gets thrown down again and the Fall From Grace gives Femi the clean win at 7:55.

Rating: B-. This was a weird one as I was expecting a bunch of people to get involved but instead Femi just absorbed everything Uso threw at him and then won in the middle of the ring. It was a question of whether the Bloodline would get the big spot or if WWE was pulling the trigger on Femi and he is at least going to get the chance. That’s an interesting way to go and I want to see how it plays out so we’ll call that a success.

Post match Femi said Uso might have been able to beat one man but he couldn’t beat fate and destiny. Uso couldn’t beat Femi either because he is the Ruler and the Destroyer. Now he’s the King.

Here is Danhausen for a chat. He is happy because he has come into a lot of human monies but here is Liv Morgan to interrupt. The Judgment Day is not happy with how much money Danhausen has taken from them and they want it back. Instead Danhausen curses her and gets slapped, which doesn’t seem to bother him that much.

Queen Of The Ring: Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky

Non-title. Sky starts fast and takes her into the corner, followed by a basement dropkick. They head outside where Sky blocks a ram into the barricade but takes too long climbing onto said barricade. Morgan gets in a shot to take over and they go back inside, where a top rope facebuster gives Morgan two. Sky fights out of the corner but dives into a quickly broke Boston crab, allowing Sky to stomp on her ribs.

Another shot to the face lets Sky connect with the missile dropkick, followed by the running knees in the corner for two. Sky knocks her outside for the big moonsault before going up top again, only to be shoved onto the steps. That leaves Sky with a banged up knee so of course Morgan ties it up with a half crab.

Sky escapes again and hits her in the face but the knee gives out, allowing Morgan to hit a springboard Codebreaker for two more. Another comeback results in Sky banging up the knee again and Morgan knocks her into the corner. Morgan goes up, only to get taken down with a super Spanish Fly. Over The Moonsault gives Sky the win at 14:58.

Rating: C. I wasn’t exactly feeling this one and the ending didn’t do it any favors. The big deal was that Sky injured her knee but she’s then able to hit a pair of big moves off the top? At the same time, I’m not wild on having a champion lose clean to set up a title shot, even if Sky chooses to go after the other champion. Not their greatest stuff here.

Post match Sky picks Morgan for the Summerslam title match. It’s in five weeks but dang that’s a stretch to make me want to watch these two fight again.

We recap the Smackdown World Title match. Cody Rhodes beat Gunther at Clash In Italy but Gunther’s foot was underneath the rope. They had a rematch with Sami Zayn as guest referee but Zayn got a bit too involved. They did it again and Zayn caused a DQ so it’s time for a triple threat. Well later on that is.

Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker

In a cage. They both throw in a bunch of weapons and sit in chairs to yell at each other before they actually start fighting. Rollins hammers away but Breakker snaps off some German suplexes and sends him into the cage. Breakker gorilla presses him into the cage and grabs a trashcan but bangs up his knee. Rollins gets to slug away, followed by the kendo stick shots to the back.

A ram into the cage has Breakker in trouble and Rollins sends him in a few more times. Rollins sets up a table in the corner and has to cut off a spear attempt before throwing a chair at Breakker. A bunch of chairs are piled up but that takes too long, allowing Breakker to snap off a super Frankensteiner for two. Breakker puts him in a chair and knocks him back out before promising that Rollins is going to die.

Rollins’ head is put inside a chair but Breakker’s golf club style chair swing misses. Some superkicks have Breakker in trouble but he knocks Rollins right back onto a table. That’s not enough for Breakker though as he goes up, with Rollins catching him for a superplex through the table in the big crash.

Breakker (whose eye is gushing blood) gets back up with a suplex into the Super Spear for two. That’s enough for Breakker to go for the door but Rollins cuts him off. Back in and the spear only hits the table in the corner, allowing Rollins to hit a Pedigree and Stomp for the very near fall. Breakker begs off from another Stomp so Rollins hits a top rope Stomp for the pin at 19:02.

Rating: C+. The blood on the eye, which I’m assuming was unintentional, was a boost but my goodness I am sick of these weapons cage matches. You’re in a big steel box with someone you hate. Why do you need all of the extra stuff? Anyway, this was a dead feud a long time ago as the Bloodline has lapped the Vision and Rollins’ real feud is with Paul Heyman, who isn’t even here at the moment. I’m not sure I get Breakker losing, but it’s not a great step for him in the slightest. Meanwhile Rollins is likely going to be the same person he was before so….what was the point here?

US Title: Trick Williams vs. Ricky Saints

Williams, with Lil Yachty, is defending. Saints jumps him from behind to start fast but Williams is right back with the chops in the corner. The threat of a Trick Shot puts Saints on the floor, where he steals Yachty’s kendo stick. Saints feigns Yachty hitting him with the stick and that’s enough for an ejection. Back in and Saints takes over on Williams, including some knees to the back and head.

Some shots to the back have Williams in more trouble but he manages a suplex for a breather. Williams grabs Saints’ hand and jumps over him, setting up a release Rock Bottom for two. Saints avoids a boot in the corner though and a swinging neckbreaker gets two more. Roshambo is countered into a backdrop but Saints avoids the running knee in the corner. A tornado DDT sets up a weird top rope elbow to give Saints two but another tornado DDT is blocked. The Trick Shot retains at 10:43.

Rating: C+. This was your basic Smackdown match and that’s not a bad way to go. Saints never once felt like a real threat to win the title and they were doing all they could to set him up with the Yachty ejection. Williams is on fire right now and it would have been insane to take the title off of him so thankfully they went in the right direction.

Post match Saints goes after Williams again but Yachty is back with the kendo stick. Yachty hits a People’s Elbow (Graves: “The People’s El-Boat!”) for the revenge.

Women’s US Title: Jade Cargill vs. Tiffany Stratton

Stratton is defending and slugs away to start but has to flip out of an early torture rack. Stratton’s running hip attack connects in the ropes but her suicide dive is cut off. Back in and Cargill starts to go with the power, including knocking Stratton into the corner. Stratton can’t fight back yet but she can escape Jaded and hurricanrana Cargill into the corner. A Regal Roll but the Prettiest Moonsault Ever hits raised knees.

Cargill’s Sandstorm gets two and another Jaded is countered into a jawbreaker. Cue the minions for a distraction, allowing Cargill to hit a chokeslam for two. Chelsea Green pops out from underneath the ring to take them out, with B-Fab being thrown into the title podium. Green grabs the title so Cargill pulls her inside and goes after the title as well. Cue Charlotte to belt Cargill in the face though, allowing the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to retain at 7:41.

Rating: C+. This was another perfectly fine but mostly unremarkable match as the two of them did their thing until Cargill’s cheating went too far. Cargill vs. Charlotte feels like the big showdown, though Rhea Ripley’s involvement is still to be determined. Stratton is going to need a new challenger though and I’m really not sure whom that is going to be.

Smackdown World Title: Gunther vs. Sami Zayn vs. Cody Rhodes

Rhodes is defending. Zayn is knocked outside to start but comes back in to cut Gunther off. Back up and Rhodes hits a running shoulder for two and we settle down a bit. Gunther pulls Zayn outside and goes back in to hammer on Rhodes. Zayn is knocked down again and Rhodes gets two off a sunset flip to Gunther. The powerbomb and Cross Rhodes are both countered but a second powerbomb gets two, with Zayn having to make a save.

Gunther is sent outside and Rhodes gets caught in a Blue Thunder Bomb for two more. The Helluva Kick is blocked though and Gunther sends Zayn outside, leaving him to uppercut Rhodes in the corner. Rhodes fights back and hits Cross Rhodes, with Zayn pulling the referee out. Gunther comes back in to powerbomb both of them but Zayn counters another into a Code Red for two.

The Helluva Kick hits Gunther but this time Rhodes pulls the referee out. It’s time to load up the announcers’ table, where Rhodes reverses a package piledriver and backdrops Zayn through the other table for the big crash. Gunther is back up for another powerbomb through the other table and the sleeper has Rhodes in trouble back inside. The arm is raised up but Zayn dives in to keep it from falling, earning the wrath of Gunther.

An exploder sends Gunther into the corner and the Helluva Kick gives Zayn two. Rhodes is back up with the Cody Cutter to Gunther but Zayn gives Rhodes Cross Rhodes of his own. Zayn grabs a sleeper on Gunther but Rhodes is back up for a double Cross Rhodes. He tries another on Zayn, who reverses into a cradle to pin Rhodes for the title at 18:39.

Rating: B. He actually got it. I’m kind of stunned as the idea of Zayn winning the title is something that is hard to actually believe but I’ll take what I can get. This is the big moment that the show was dying for and all that matters is Zayn finally won the title. Odds are it doesn’t last long, but dang that’s a heck of a moment and long overdue. The match was the best on the show as well, which granted isn’t a surprise given the people involved. I’m not sure he’s going to hold it long (he probably won’t) but Zayn is champion and that’s a great thing to see.

Zayn gets the big and well deserved celebration to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The ending pulled this one back from the brink as this just was not a very interesting show. I was rather bored multiple times as the matches might have been fine but they were absolutely lacking any kind of fire. Maybe it was the extra travel or something but this was not one of their better efforts. Zayn finally getting his moment is the important thing though and that boosted this one up a long way.

Results
Oba Femi b. Jey Uso – Fall From Grace
Iyo Sky b. Liv Morgan – Over The Moonsault
Seth Rollins b. Bron Breakker – Middle rope Stomp
Trick Williams b. Ricky Saints – Trick Shot
Tiffany Stratton b. Jade Cargill – Prettiest Moonsault Ever
Sami Zayn b. Gunther and Cody Rhodes – Rollup to Rhodes

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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We’re back overseas and as has become the norm of the summer, we have the finals of the Of The Ring tournaments. The good thing is WWE has set up the men’s final as something that could lead us in a multitude of ways and that is a nice situation to have. Other than that we have the usual shenanigans around here and hopefully the card isn’t as spaced out as others. Let’s get to it.

Women’s US Title: Tiffany Stratton(c) vs. Jade Cargill

We’ll start off with a match that might be the least important on the card but also might be the most difficult to guess. Stratton and Cargill are being built up into two of the biggest stars of the current/next generation and it makes sense to see the two of them having this kind of a match. At the same time, their previous efforts against each other have been less than stellar so it should be interesting to see how well it works out.

As for a winner, I think I’ll take Stratton winning here. While Cargill making the win makes the most sense, I’m not sure what she has to do if she wins. Stratton already has issues with Charlotte and Alexa Bliss and the latter could be a good opponent for her. I’m curious about how this goes and it’s been built up better than some of their recent matches, though they don’t have a huge bar to clear.

US Title: Trick Williams(c) vs. Ricky Saints

Now here we have something that is a bit more important, but also a bit easier to guess. At the end of the day, Williams has hit the ground running like few you’ve seen in a long time. He and Lil Yachty are a great team together and I’m hoping they’re together in this way for a good while to come. I’m thinking you get where this is going and that’s not a bad thing here.

Of course I’m taking Williams to retain the title, as there is pretty much no reason to think that Saints is going to win the title here. If nothing else, Saints is going to be a nice victory for Williams and I could go for seeing them have a good match on the way to Williams retaining. Williams is likely to be a big deal sooner or later and a win over Saints is a good step forward.

Bron Breakker vs. Seth Rollins

It says a lot when a cage match feels kind of unimportant but I can barely remember anything about this match coming in. It feels like this feud should have wrapped up months ago and they’re just doing this match to give both of them something to do. If nothing else, Rollins’ quest to take out the Vision has been replaced by a bunch of people trying to take out the Bloodline. That doesn’t leave much here and I’m not exactly interested in seeing the match.

I’ll take Rollins to win here, even though Breakker needs the win more. Rollins can win and in theory get rid out of this WAY too long feud with the Vision. Odds are there will be a good deal of interference but I’m not sure how much it’s going to help. This is a really lacking feud and I don’t really see this match, with Rollins winning, making it that much better.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes(c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. Gunther

Now this has my attention as I have gone from “it’s another Rhodes title defense” to having no idea who is leaving with the title. Rhodes felt like the undisputed obvious winner here but for once, adding a third star makes it a lot better. Zayn is someone who feels like he absolutely has to win the title at some point and it would be great to see it happen here. Or anywhere as I really want to see it happen one way or another.

That being said, I’ll play it safe and go with Rhodes retaining. Rhodes already has a bunch of options available for Summerslam, with Jey Uso, Oba Femi and potentially Gunther or Zayn waiting on him. That’s more than enough to see him leaving with the title, even if Zayn winning would be a feel good moment in Saudi Arabia. That also leaves Gunther as a legitimate threat to steal the title and I could see it happening as well. I’ll take Rhodes though, as WWE likes him on top at the biggest shows, such as Summerslam.

Queen Of The Ring Finals: Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky

I have lost any and all concept of how this tournament is supposed to go, as it’s two Raw stars fighting for a shot at, I’m assuming, the Smackdown Women’s Title. That is of course assuming the Smackdown Women’s Champion is healthy enough to wrestle at Summerslam. Or does Morgan get to take Summerslam off if she wins the whole thing here? Maybe clarify this stuff a bit better?

All that being said, I’m thinking that they clear out a lot of the issues by having Sky win. This means she can either have another chance against Morgan at Summerslam (I hope not) or face her former partner/friend/longtime rival Rhea Ripley for the title instead. That match has felt like the big endgame for everything since Ripley won the title, even if she has done absolutely nothing with it since. Sky wins here, if nothing else for the sake of clearing up the confusion.

King Of The Ring Finals: Oba Femi vs. Jey Uso

We’ll wrap it up with a match that really could go either way. There are multiple options here, with Femi smashing through Uso, Uso escaping with a win, or Roman Reigns getting involved to help his cousin win and avoid facing Femi in the process. The impressive thing is any of them feel like a legitimate option and I’m probably forgetting a few others. You don’t get that very often and this could be rather good.

The question here is basically does WWE go with the Bloodline or pull the trigger on Femi and put him in the big spot. I’m thinking they’ll go with the former, possibly thanks to a certain Brock Lesnar shaped roadblock. I wouldn’t go in that direction, but I think WWE is going to go that way, with the Bloodline getting even more of the focus on the shows, even if it stopped being that interesting a good while ago. Uso wins here, even if Femi feels like the better choice.

Overall Thoughts

This is the first of four shows on a Wrestlemania size weekend and as is usual with the Saudi shows, it’s taking place in the early afternoon on the east coast. Yes it’s kind of annoying, but it’s also getting the biggest show of the weekend out of the way first. That could set the bar either high or low and we get to see where things go from there. This show has some potential though, especially if it winds up mainly being a wrestling based show, which tends to be where WWE does its best work.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Smackdown
Date: June 26, 2026
Location: O2 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re taped from London and it’s the night before Night Of Champions. In this case that means the big final push towards to the pay per view and the previews for the finals of the two Of The Ring tournaments. Things have been looking up a bit around here as of late and it would be great to have that continue. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week’s World Title situation, resulting in Cody Rhodes defending against Sami Zayn and Gunther at Night Of Champions.

Here are Trick Williams and Lil Yachty for a chat. Williams was missing last week because he was in Jamaica…where he and Lash Legend got married. After stories about the celebration and what happened all night long, Williams declares it the greatest night of his life. He’s ready to go into Night Of Champions and retain the title and move on to Summerslam.

This brings out a ticked off Ricky Saints to interrupt, with Williams threatening him with his back hand. Saints isn’t impressed and says Williams is overlooking him. Tomorrow, you’re going to be looking at the new US Champion. Williams says the only person Saints needs to be focusing on is his dentist after Williams kicks Saints’ teeth down his throat. Saints gets annoyed at Yachty and gets in a cheap shot, with another dropping a distracted Williams.

Alexa Bliss wants to get revenge for Charlotte, even if it means teaming with Tiffany Stratton. Cue Stratton, who says this is a one night only thing and she wants to be left alone after. That’s a rather specific request.

Tiffany Stratton/Alexa Bliss vs. Michin/B-Fab

Stratton and Michin start things off with Stratton grabbing an early headlock takeover. A running basement dropkick gives Stratton an early two and it’s off to Bliss, who is apparently rather popular. The running Blockbuster puts Michin down but it’s way too early for Sister Abigail.

A not so great tornado DDT puts Michin down on the floor but B-Fab gets in a big boot to Bliss as we take a break. We come back with Michin missing an elbow, allowing Stratton to come back in and clean house. The Alabama Slam gets two on B-Fab and there’s a Regal Roll but cue Jade Cargill to break up the moonsault. A spinning X Factor gives B-Fab the pin at 7:41.

Rating: C+. This was a fine illustration of following the basic playbook to build towards Saturday’s title match. Stratton has a reason to be mad now and we might be seeing her more focused on revenge than retaining her title. It should make for an interesting match and this was a good way to set it up, as well as a good use of the minions.

Post match the villains surround Stratton so here is Chelsea Green…who drops her kendo stick. Green is able to send Cargill outside anyway though and Cargill leaves with her goons.

We look at Solo Sikoa costing Jimmy Uso on Raw.

Sikoa brags about taking Uso out but the MFT’s say he’s obsessed with Roman Reigns. They’re out, which leaves Sikoa ranting about how no one leaves him.

Jade Cargill demands a match with Chelsea Green for tonight and Nick Aldis obliges.

AAA Cruiserweight Title: Nathan Frazer vs. Rey Fenix

Fenix is defending. They run the ropes to start fast and trade the flips and dives into an early standoff. Frazer flips away from him out of the corner so Fenix is up with a springboard crossbody to put Frazer down. Fenix sends him outside for the big dive but Frazer catches him with a kick of his own. The big running flip dive hits Fenix and we take a break.

We come back with Fenix fighting out of a chinlock and firing off the fast chops. A Roode Bomb gives Fenix two but Frazer catches him up top. The superplex connects but Fenix pops up for a double kick to the head and they’re both down. Back up and Frazer’s middle rope reverse Spanish Fly gets two and he kicks Fenix out to the floor for a big crash. Frazer’s big dive is cut off though and the Mexican MuscleBuster retains the title at 10:48.

Rating: B. This is another one of those matches where you knew it was going to be entertaining based on whom was involved. That was the case again here, with Fenix getting to showcase himself and Frazer being a perfect choice to hang in there with him. I still don’t want to see the AAA title involved around here, but this was good while it lasted.

Post match respect is shown.

Damian Priest and R-Truth don’t see things the same way on rebuilding the Judgment Day clubhouse but the War Raiders come in to say they want a winner take all title match. R-Truth gets confused and Priest has to take him away.

LA Knight arrives and is on his way to the ring. He also asks why Cathy Kelley, who is supposed to be on Raw, was waiting on him. Fair question.

We recap the King Of The Ring semifinals.

Here is Knight for a chat. Knight talks about how he laid Jimmy Uso out on Raw but he had an unexpected assist. He’d like an explanation on that so Solo Sikoa needs to get out here right now. Cue Sikoa, with the fans chanting for him and Knight finding it a bit catchy. Sikoa says his entire family has left him but Knight isn’t impressed as the MFT’s were useless. Knight doesn’t know what happened on Monday but maybe it was a Roman Reigns initiation.

Sikoa snaps, ranting about how much he hates the Bloodline and he knows he and Knight have that in common. Knight says they should both hate Roman Reigns, just like everyone else in the Bloodline. They’ve all gone back into the Bloodline though so why should Knight trust Sikoa? What’s different here?

The difference is that Sikoa has nothing to lose and they could watch each other’s back and take out the Bloodline. Knight has heard “it’s just me uce” before and he probably needs help, but he’s going to live and die doing things his own way. Thanks but no thanks. That’s an interesting twist, though I liked it better when Montez Ford turned down Seth Rollins to go after the Bloodline about a month ago.

Sami Zayn talks about how no one listens to him, save for Johnny Gargano, but now he can redeem himself by winning the WWE Title.

Paige vs. Jacy Jayne

Brie Bella and the rest of Fatal Influence is here too. Jayne starts fast with the boot choke in the corner so Paige sends her throat first into the top rope. The fans declare this to be Paige’s house as she sends Jayne face first into the buckle over and over. An STF sends Jayne over to the ropes and Paige has to flip dive onto the rest of the team. Jayne uses the distraction to get in a cheap shot though and we take a break.

We come back with Paige fighting up and hitting a clothesline, meaning it’s time to slug it out. Paige snaps off a suplex and the Paige Turner gets two. Rampaige is broken up though and Jayne kicks her down for two of her own. The Rolling Encore is broken up so Jayne grabs a rollup, with Bella cutting off the cheating. Paige takes out an interfering Reid and rolls Jayne up for the pin at 8:34.

Rating: C. It’s nice to see Paige getting a win in her home country, though I could have gone with not seeing Jayne take another pin. She was off to such a hot start when she debuted and has come crashing back down to earth rather quickly. At least Paige and Bella are getting a chance though, as they certainly never have before.

Danhausen continues his experiments on Miz and Kit Wilson when Matt Cardona comes in. Cardona is happy with the New York winning but Danhausen steps away. Los Garza come in to ask where Danhausen is but Cardona tells them to get lost. Danhausen is back to Cardona not to touch whatever is under the sheet.

Finn Balor runs into the Tongas, with Tama saying they do have a past. He has one with Shinsuke Nakamura too and look how that went. The Tongas leave together.

Here are Danhausen and Miz and Kit Wilson (still mostly catatonic) for a chat. Danhausen greets the fans and calls the two of them the Legion Of Danhausen, meaning we get the zombified catchphrases. Los Garza interrupts and jumps Miz and Wilson but Matt Cardona makes the save. Nick Aldis comes in to make the tag match.

Matt Cardona/Danhausen vs. Los Garza

We’re joined in progress with Cardona beating up Berto but getting sent out to the apron. Angel gets in a cheap shot to take over and the alternating beating begins. With that not working, Los Garza beat up Wilson on the floor but the distraction lets Cardona get in a flapjack. Danhausen gets to come in and clean house as everything breaks down. Miz won’t let Angel get a chair so Danhausen grabs a rollup for two on Berto. A kick to the head puts Danhausen down but he curses Berto on top, causing pyro to go off. That and a reverse DDT give Danhausen the pin at 4:32.

Rating: C. This is a completely acceptable way of putting one of the hotter stars on the show as the fans get to see Danhausen live. It’s not like there was anything serious to the whole thing as you had curses, zombies and…whatever Danhausen is this week. Either way, it’s more fun stuff as they’re keeping Danhausen low on the card where he belongs.

Gunther isn’t pleased with Sami Zayn saying their Night Of Champions match is about Zayn’s redemption. A question about his less than great win/loss record against Cody Rhodes makes it worse and he’s off to deal with Zayn.

Video on Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky in the Queen Of The Ring finals.

Chelsea Green vs. Jade Cargill

Green strikes away to start and gets in the salute. James sends her outside and grabs a fall away slam as we take a break. We come back with Green striking away again and hitting a missile dropkick for two. Cargill isn’t having any of this and hits her in the face, setting up Jaded for the pin at 6:12 (Cargill looking bored after such an easy win is exactly on point for her).

Rating: C. Yeah this was about all it needed to be, as Cargill smashes through Green on the way to her title match against Green’s one sided friend. It’s a perfectly logical way to go, as is Green not being able to do much with Cargill. I’m sure Green having Tiffany Stratton fully on her side will do the trick though and that seems to be the coming up pretty soon. Just like Cargill’s title shot.

Post match B-Fab and Michin run in but Tiffany Stratton and Alexa Bliss run in for the save. That earns Stratton a Jadeding.

Solo Sikoa is asked about being alone but Royce Keys interrupts. Keys tells him good luck and walks off.

Video on Bron Breakker vs. Seth Rollins.

Night Of Champions rundown.

Lil Yachty and Trick Williams are ticked off at Ricky Saints and ready for revenge. Williams is prettier than Saints too.

Giulia vs. Kiana James

They were friends, they got into a fight and now they’re not. James kicks her in the face at the bell and they’re on the floor in a hurry. Giulia takes over on the outside and they go back inside where Giulia connects with some hard kicks. A headbutt sends James outside again, where she gets in a slam onto the steps as we take a break.

We come back with Giulia hitting a missile dropkick to leave both of them down. They slug it out with Giulia getting the better of things and snapping off a headscissors. A belly to back suplex gives Giulia two but James slams her off the top for a big crash. Giulia pulls her down by the hair but the big knee is countered into a powerbomb for two more. James gets her in a fireman’s carry but gets sunset bombed out of the corner. The northern lights bomb finishes for Giulia at 9:43.

Rating: B-. This was a case where Giulia needed the win a lot more than James, who can be fine as a lackey or assistant etc. On the other hand, Giulia has felt like she has been floating all over the place and looking for something to stick. Maybe this is a step forward for her, as she certainly needs something to work.

Post match Giulia celebrates but Blake Monroe runs in to lay her out.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat but before he can get anywhere, Sami Zayn cuts him off. Zayn thanks his fans for being with him no matter what and he’s sorry for interrupting but he’s the last good guy around here. He apologizes for what happened last week, including hitting Rhodes with the title by mistake. Rhodes: “Was it a mistake?”

Zayn goes on about how this isn’t about how he wanted things to go and Rhodes doesn’t buy that at all. Look at what is going on. Zayn is getting a title shot in a country where he is beloved. The reality is that Zayn is exhausting as he keeps trying to take things. Rhodes wishes Kevin Owens was here because Owens would at least stab him in the front. And at least Owens has been WWE Champion (not quite).

Zayn gets in his face and yells about how Rhodes needs to keep Owens out of his mouth but here is Gunther to say that he doesn’t care about all of the drama around here. If not for Zayn, Gunther would be the WWE Champion but Zayn isn’t a threat to him as a wrestler. Rhodes needs to enjoy his last night as champion because Gunther is taking the title. This brings out Jey Uso to interrupt but Gunther won’t let him run it back.

Uso brings up making Gunther tap out at Wrestlemania and the brawl is on. Gunther and Zayn are cleared out and Rhodes squares off with Uso…and here is Oba Femi. Gunther Zayn get back in and are taken right back out, leaving Rhodes and Femi to stare it down to end the show. They’re doing something interesting here as you could have a few combinations here and they’re all good enough. Nice job here and I’ll take that over having the obvious result that takes forever to come together.

Overall Rating: B-. This did a good enough job of giving a final push towards the pay per view and that’s all it needed to do. They didn’t really add much of anything but the tease at the end did make me more interested. The best thing out of all of this though is we’re back to two hours next week, which is LONG overdue. That should do wonders for Smackdown and I want to see just how well things go when we’re on the road to Summerslam with one less hour to deal with a week. Not a great show here, but it did what it needed to do.

Results
Michin/B-Fab b. Alexa Bliss/Tiffany Stratton – Spinning X Factor to Stratton
Rey Fenix b. Nathan Frazer – Mexican MuscleBuster
Paige b. Jacy Jayne – Rollup
Danhausen/Matt Cardona b. Los Garza – Reverse DDT to Berto
Jade Cargill b. Chelsea Green – Jaded
Giulia b. Kiana James – Northern lights bomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 1990
Date: August 27, 1990
Location: Philadelphia Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 19,304
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper

This is the requested redo for the year and I’m rather happy about that. I watched this show more times than I can count as a kid as it was the first wrestling show I had on video. I’ve seen it so many times that I can probably quote at least a bit of the commentary from every match and know most of the matches by heart so looking back at it should be fun. It’s a double main event as Hulk Hogan returns to face Earthquake and Ultimate Warrior defends the WWF Title against Rick Rude in a cage. Let’s get to it.

The opening video hypes up the show, including the main events. This gives us the classic 80s Vince McMahon hype voice and that is always going to work. At the end of the day, the guy is a promoter and a really good one.

Rockers vs. Power And Glory

Vince promises this this is going to be a HUMDINGER so you know he’s serious. Shawn comes to the ring so gingerly that you would think he had a bad knee and wasn’t ready to go here or something. Power And Glory, already in the ring, (it was a different time) jump Michaels before the bell and hit him in the knee with the chain to give him a reason to be down. Why is that so much to ask?

Roma hammers on Jannetty to start but Marty fights back with armdrags and dropkick (why yes, he is a face in a tag team). Slick (the evil, yet stylish) manager offers a distraction as Piper wants to know which one is the power and which is the glory. You mean him being named HERCULES isn’t a hint? Jannetty gets beaten down as Piper talks about Mick Jagger and David Bowie, perhaps missing the idea of the Rockers.

We pause to take out Michaels again as this continues to be a handicap, including a gorilla press to Jannetty. A small package doesn’t get Jannetty out of trouble as Roma comes back in and hits some backbreakers. Jannetty powerslams his way to freedom and hits the top rope fist drop (such a simple yet good looking finisher) with Hercules having to make a save. That’s finally enough as the PowerPlex puts Jannetty away at 5:59.

Rating: C. Kind of a weird way to start the show here but I do like the idea of just getting in and out without trying to do anything nuts. Power And Glory weren’t some great team but they could beat Marty in a handicap match. That’s all you had here and it went well enough, even if it was pretty clear that Shawn shouldn’t have been out there in the first place.

Post match Shawn gets in the ring and the big beatdown is on, with Marty trying to cover Shawn’s knee (another Jagger/Bowie reference from Piper). Of note: the VHS that I remember glitched at this point so I didn’t remember seeing the last minute and a half of the match until I was almost twenty years old. Shawn does a stretcher job and would be out of action for about a month and a half.

Mr. Perfect isn’t worried about facing the Texas Tornado on less than ten days’ notice, even if he knows almost nothing about Tornado. Bobby Heenan talks about how worthless Texas tornadoes are because you can see them coming a mile away. Then Perfect gets REALLY serious and says no one beats him.

The Texas Tornado promises to come out of the clouds and be powerful, unpredictable and devastating. Then he’ll go back into the clouds with the Intercontinental Title. For some reason, that one has always stuck with me, even if it isn’t very good.

Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect vs. Texas Tornado

Perfect, with Bobby Heenan, is defending. Of note: Tornado was in yellow trunks for the interview and is in white here so he doesn’t match Perfect’s yellow and blue singlet. The lockup goes to Tornado, who shoves him into the corner without much trouble. That’s enough to send Perfect outside, as commentary thinks they might be surprised by the strength. So they haven’t even looked at Tornado?

Back in and they circle each other a bit as Piper wants to know what Heenan knows about wrestling. A hard whip into the corner sets up a slam on Perfect and a clothesline puts him on the floor, with the required big bump from Perfect. Back in again and Perfect slugs his way out of a wristlock, setting up a sleeper. Some shots to the face in the corner don’t do much to Tornado, who catapults Perfect into the post and grabs the Claw. The Tornado Punch (HUGE bump from Perfect) connects for the pin and the title at 5:15.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t much of a match as Tornado was a bit all over the place (shocking) and a lot of the stuff was rather basic. That being said, this was all about the surprise factor as Tornado gets the title almost immediately after debuting. Of note: for someone perfect, Perfect lost every pay per view match he had in 1990, though finishing as runner up in the Royal Rumble could have been worse.

Perfect staggers out of the arena in even more great selling.

In the back, Gene Okerlund can’t find Sweet Sapphire (uh oh) but Heenan and Perfect come in to rant about the bad refereeing. Tornado CHEATED by sending him into the post and now it’s time to pay. Well not now but in the near future, though that might qualify as semantics.

Sweet Sapphire vs. Sensational Queen Sherri

Sherri has a huge mask on which absolutely TERRIFIED me as a kid. And there’s no Sapphire, despite the music playing multiple times. That’s going to be a thirty second countdown forfeit and no match. Granted the fact that Sherri was in a full length dress makes me wonder what she was exactly planning for this one anyway. Commentary is very confused by Sapphire’s whereabouts.

Dusty Rhodes is in the back and says he doesn’t know where Sapphire is either as she disappeared ten minutes after they arrived. No one has seen her and he is rather worried. Cue Jim Duggan for a rather random cameo, saying everyone is still looking for Sapphire. With Duggan gone, Dusty says that Sapphire is getting a lot of really expensive gifts but that isn’t his business. GEE, I WONDER WHO IN THE WWF IS RICH ENOUGH TO SEND HER THOSE PRESENTS!

Tito Santana vs. Warlord

Slick is here with Warlord and Piper promises to not make a bunch of taco jokes about Santana. A headlock doesn’t work for Santana to start but a dropkick manages to put Warlord down. Back up and Santana looks to load up a hurricanrana (not quite in 1990) so he can hammer away to knock Warlord outside.

That’s fine with Warlord, who drives him back first into the post, allowing Slick to stalk him with a shoe (yes a shoe). The slow forearms keep Santana down until he gets a boot up in the corner to slow Warlord down. The flying forearm rocks Warlord but he gets the foot on the rope at the last minute. Warlord blocks a monkey flip out of the corner though and a running powerslam finishes at 5:28.

Rating: C. This is a fine example of a power vs. speed match and Santana knows how to do that as well as anyone else from this era. Let Santana go out there and run around while Warlord uses his power game in short spurts. It is a formula that has worked forever and it worked well enough here, even in a short form match.

Survivor Series is coming. That’s the Undertaker debut show, which always blows my mind. Look at this card and consider that three months later, you would have someone who has faced Rusev and AJ Styles.

Demolition, all three of them, won’t say which two of them will be facing the Hart Foundation. Hint: it’s probably the two holding the belts here. Either way, they aren’t worried about facing the Legion of Doom after this, because they’re just a bunch of impostors. This was just after Crush was added to the team so Ax could be written out due to what was thought to be a heart problem. In reality it was a bad allergic reaction to some kind of shellfish (not a joke) and he was fine soon enough.

Tag Team Titles: Hart Foundation vs. Demolition

Demolition (Crush/Smash) are defending in a 2/3 falls match and we cut to the back where the Harts say they’re a bit surprised. They promise to win the titles because they are two Harts beating as one (always loved that line). Bret and Smash start but Neidhart comes in to knock an interfering Crush outside. Smash gets taken down into an armbar but knocks him away without much trouble, allowing Crush to come in instead.

Crush pulls a crossbody out of the air and slams Bret down but charges into a boot in the corner. It’s off to Neidhart vs. Smash, with the former getting kicked in the back by Crush (that cheater). A clothesline out of the corner gives Neidhart a breather and he hands it back to Bret, which seems rather quick after Bret took a good bit longer beating.

Everything breaks down and Demolition is sent into each other so Crush falls outside. The backbreaker and middle rope elbow get two on Smash, with Crush dropping a leg for the save. With Neidhart down on the floor, the Demolition Decapitator finishes Bret for the first fall at 6:19.

Bret and Crush start the second fall and a choke shove drops Bret fast. The neck crank goes on for a bit but Bret is back up with the Hart Attack clothesline (minus the whole Hart Attack thing). The hot tag bring in Neidhart (despite Crush holding Bret’s leg) for the house cleaning on Smash. There’s the powerslam for two and everything breaks down with the Hart Attack hitting Smash.

Crush DIVES over and grabs the referee, who he carries around the ring. Believe it or not, yes that is a DQ and we’re died up at 10:40 (total). Why in the world wouldn’t you just break up the cover there? That doesn’t exactly make Crush look smart but Demolition was never the brightest team.

The third fall begins so here is Ax to hide underneath the ring like a villain should. Bret comes back with a sunset flip on Smash, followed by Neidhart powerslamming Bret onto him (that was awesome) for two. Then we get to the “REALLY?” part of the match as Ax switches with Smash (ignore the referee WATCHING HIM COME OUT FROM UNDER THE RING) and starts hammering away. Even when I was three years old, I never got how this was supposed to make sense (Smash’s face paint was even wiped off and Ax’s was fresh).

Smash comes back out to double team Bret but cue the Legion of Doom to pull Ax from under the ring and break up another Demolition Decapitator. Neidhart slingshot shoulder blocks Crush into a cradle from Bret for the pin and the titles at 15:50 in one of the all time great feel good moments.

Rating: B+. A lot of this is nostalgia but I LOVE this match and always have. What I didn’t get when I was a kid was that this was the culmination of a years long quest for the Harts to get the titles back and prove that they could do it without Jimmy Hart. The win felt like it meant something (Vince’s call is perfect as you can feel him get happy on saying THREE) and it still holds up to this day. Heck of a match, but this was more about the emotion and it worked great.

Wrestlemania VII ad. I can still remember the phone number.

The Legion of Doom is happy because they have been waiting on Demolition. What a rush….for them. The Harts come in and say they’ll fight anyone anytime anywhere no matter the odds. Quite the emotional burst there.

Sean Mooney is outside of Demolition’s locker room where you can hear them ranting and raving about the Legion of Doom.

Queen Sherri brags about her win over Sapphire and laughs off the idea that there were “early sightings” of her earlier today. Sherri: “WHAT IS SHE: A UFO???” On top of that, Sherri has heard rumors about Sapphire that makes her think Sapphire might be the smartest person around here. Sherri: “THIS IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!!”

Five minute intermission, thankfully without the countdown graphic included.

Gene Okerlund runs down the rest of the card and we see one of Bad News Browns’ Harlem sewer rats.

Damien, Jake Roberts’ snake, is in the shower.

Big Boss Man, who is guest referee for Brown vs. Roberts for no explained reason, doesn’t mind snakes or rats.

Nikolai Volkoff, now very pro-America, is glad to be in a tag team with Jim Duggan. Volkoff describes Duggan as his idol and calls the team the American Express (as opposed to the Orient Express you see).

Earthquake, with Dino Bravo and Jimmy Hart, is ready to crush Hulk Hogan for good, just like he did to Tugboat. He might as well crush Big Boss Man as well! Bravo promises to take care of the Boss Man while Hart promises a double stretcher job. Earthquake also brings up Tugboat asking fans to send Hogan cards and letters to make him feel better.

1. That was designed to replenish the WWF’s mailing list.

2. Each fan reportedly got a note signed (well, “signed” but close enough) by Hogan thanking them for their prayers.

3. That’s brilliant, and it’s the same thing the WWF did when the Islanders dognapped Matilda a few years earlier.

Jake Roberts is ready to turn Bad News Brown into a mouse.

A good chunk of these promos were not on the home video, likely for time.

Jake Roberts vs. Bad News Brown

Big Boss Man is guest referee and the fight starts before he gets to the ring. Jake tries a very early DDT but Brown slips out and kicks Jake down. Another DDT attempt doesn’t work and they head outside, where Brown hits him in the ribs with a chair. That’s good for a warning from Boss Man and Brown stomps away back inside. Roberts fights back with the snap jabs and the fans are already wanting the DDT. Brown counters it a third time, which Piper attributed to an oily head. More pounding on the floor ensues and that’s enough to get Brown disqualified at 4:48.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here as it felt like a match they advertised and then forgot to do anything which, which didn’t make it much better. Throw in the Boss Man as the tacked on referee and there was only so much to get out of something like this. It just wasn’t very good and I’m not sure what they thought they had here.

Post match Brown goes to drop a leg on Damien but Boss Man makes the save. Brown beats on Boss Man but Jake grabs Damien and clears the ring, sending Brown out of the WWF for good. The rats were never seen, save for a closed crate at ringside.

Demolition rants about the numbers game in their match and swears vengeance, first on the Legion of Doom and then on the Harts.

It’s time for Brother Love, who scared the heck out of me when I was a kid (and in modern times, scares me for entirely different reasons). Love asks if kids remember being told what to do when they were younger. Now they still need someone to do that because they are soft and weak. His guest is the man who can tell you what to do so here is Sgt. Slaughter. Er, make that DRILL Sgt. Slaughter this time.

Slaughter has been looking around and wants to find a great American. That’s what he has found here, which is why he has The Great American Award for Brother Love. That makes him think of Nikolai Volkoff, who suddenly loves America. Slaughter isn’t happy with that and declares war on Volkoff, because America has gone soft. If Saddam Hussein (or “who’s on” as Slaughter pronounces it) declared war on us tomorrow our boys would be destroyed. Saluting ensues, as we have a new top heel.

Mr. Fuji and the Orient Express are ready for their match but we cut to Gene Okerlund, who has found Sapphire….who goes into a room and locks the door behind her. Nice one Gene.

Orient Express vs. Jim Duggan/Nikolai Volkoff

Piper doesn’t quite buy the idea of Duggan and Volkoff being that bright. Before the match, Duggan and Volkoff belt out God Bless America, because of course they do. Duggan says God bless the troops and the Express attacks, only to be knocked outside without much trouble. The villains come back in with Tanaka bouncing off of Volkoff (Piper: “Yep, real dumb.”). The US chants are on as Volkoff shrugs off a shot to the throat and brings Duggan in to clean house. Everything breaks down and the Express is sent into each other, setting up the three point clothesline to finish Tanaka at 3:22.

Rating: D+. This was little more than a debut squash for Duggan and Volkoff and that is fine, though seeing the Express lose so quickly despite having some awesome matches with the Rockers was a little weird. It wasn’t bad for a match there to play off of current events but it was fine for a quick one. As long as the WWF doesn’t think Duggan and Volkoff are a big deal, it doesn’t mean much.

Dusty Rhodes can’t get into Sapphire’s dressing room and has to go to the ring for his match. He’ll be back.

Sean Mooney, standing on a ladder, talks to Randy Savage, who thinks the rumors about Sapphire are true. Savage talks about how the Founding Fathers weren’t thinking about people like Dusty when they talked about the American Dream and this is a grave situation. Speaking of graves, the ring is where Macho is going to bury Dusty so DOWN THAT AISLE! Savage was kind of feeling it here.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Randy Savage

This is Macho King (with Queen Sherri) and Dusty is as serious as he has been in his WWF run. Hold on though as here is Ted DiBiase (with Virgil) on the platform to say his money can buy anyone or anything. He brings out Sapphire with a bag full of money (the trip around the world and the Cadillac seem more valuable, though I’d love one of those WWF gym bags) and talks about how money will get you whatever you want.

Dusty goes after them but Savage jumps him from behind. They head inside and the fight is on, with Dusty getting in some shots of his own. Savage is knocked outside and hides behind Sherri, who sneaks him the loaded purse. One shot is enough to knock Dusty cold for the pin at 2:14.

In the back, Ted DiBiase, Virgil and Sapphire leave in the limousine, with Dusty Rhodes giving chase to no avail. That always made me sad as it was a rare instance of evil flat out winning and Dusty not being able to do anything about it.

Hulk Hogan and the Big Boss Man are ready for revenge on Earthquake. They dedicate the match to Tugboat and quite the beating that goes with the match.

Earthquake vs. Hulk Hogan

Jimmy Hart, Dino Bravo and Big Boss Man are here too and make no mistake about it: this is the show’s real main event. Feeling out process to start and we get the big shove off out of the lockup. That does not great for Hogan and far better for Earthquake, with Hogan dropping backwards. After a quick chat with Boss Man on the floor, Hogan slugs away and tries a slam, only to hurt his back (it worked in the Andre match).

Some right hands and chops stagger Earthquake (and drop Bravo/Hart) until a big right hand puts Earthquake down. Everyone heads outside where the seconds get involved, including going inside. A double big boot drops Bravo and another one knocks Earthquake into the ropes as Piper wonders what the referee is thinking. The referee gets Boss Man out so Bravo and Earthquake can hit a double slam on Hogan.

The big elbow gives Earthquake two and we hit a Boston crab, which is quite the visual. Hogan tries to power out but for once gets smart and grabs the rope right next to him (you could tell things were different in 1990, as Hogan using a ROPE to escape is just hard to fathom). Bravo gets in a slam on the floor but Earthquake misses another big elbow. The slam still doesn’t work for Hogan as Earthquake crashes onto him for two more to bang up the ribs even more.

We hit the bearhug (required) but Hogan fights out and tries…..a crossbody???? What the heck man? Either way, Earthquake powerslams him down and hits the Earthquake. Then he does it again and I think you know what that means. The comeback is on, complete with the slam working this time. There’s the legdrop but Bravo offers a distraction and Hart comes in to jump Hogan. Everything breaks down and it heads to the floor, where Hogan slams Earthquake onto (not through) a table and that’s enough for the count at 13:12. Hogan jumping up and down in celebration always looked weird.

Rating: C+. I love Hogan but the magic was starting to fade. You can tell that there is a lot going on here to try to keep the energy up, but Hogan just isn’t as special as he once was. At the same time, the countout was lame and while Hogan slammed him, it was hardly some big win. They build Earthquake up very well, but there is only so much that can be done when he’s Hogan’s rebound feud.

Post match the beatdown is on with Earthquake choking Hogan. Boss Man hits Earthquake in the back with a metal stool and just annoys him, allowing Bravo to come in as well. In a great visual, Boss Man whips out the nightstick and is ready to go, which is enough for Earthquake and Bravo to bail. Hogan poses (after suggesting that Earthquake is a chicken) but Piper doesn’t think Hogan won anything with the countout. Two things.

1. Piper getting on Hogan just feels right.

2. I know it’s for the house show rematches, but dang that countout always felt kind of lame.

Rick Rude, now short haired and serious, promise to win the WWF Title in the cage tonight and get his statue outside of the Spectrum next to Rocky Balboa. Bobby Heenan explains the idea of a cage match and promises no sequels. Rude: “And there ain’t gonna be no rematch!” I didn’t know that was a Rocky reference until YEARS later. Of note: Heenan started this promo by saying “he’s going to get that Intercontinental Title back”, which is the kind of thing that he would be saying because he could do more than one thing at a time.

Dusty Rhodes is fine with Sapphire taking the money because he offered up his innocence to her and she paid him back in scorn (he used that line a lot in his career and I’m still not sure I get what it means). Now the fans are asking when he’s going to get mad and even. He’s coming for Ted DiBiase because….America can give him shelter from the storm? Ok then.

Lord Alfred Hayes explains how the cage is built for the main event.

Hulk Hogan talks about how there are new buildings being built around the world and they are all earthquake proof. Hogan is going to take that big fat dude (his words) around the world and beat him over and over until he is the #1 contender. That’s not how you usually become #1 contender. Anyway, Hogan has a fourth demandment: believe in yourself. For now though, he going to get a new nine foot surfboard (or gun as he calls it) and go to the beach to chase sharks, at least until he finds that TITLE wave. Then he pretends he’s on a motorcycle and rides backwards out of frame. Hogan was a weird dude.

With welts on his back, Earthquake promises that it isn’t over with Hulk Hogan and promises more pain next time. Dino Bravo and Jimmy Hart rant a lot too.

Ultimate Warrior: “Do you know what Bobby Heenan has in common with the Liberty Bell? One is cracked and the other is a ding dong.” Would that be Ding or Dong? A lot of Founding Father references are made with Warrior promising to beat Rick Rude. The idea of the match is that Rude beat Warrior back at Wrestlemania V (which is never mentioned by name) so he could do it again here. In short, it didn’t work and this is a really lame main event as a result.

WWF Title: Rick Rude vs. Ultimate Warrior

Rude is challenging in a cage and they start fighting on top of the cage. Warrior knocks him down and hits a top rope ax handle to take over, setting up the ram into the cage. Another ram into the cage drops Warrior and Rude goes up, where he has to kick Warrior away. For some reason Rude comes back down and keeps stomping away but it’s too early for the Rude Awakening.

Warrior knocks him down but the splash hits knees, allowing Rude to hit the Rude Awakening. For no adequately explained reason, Rude goes up to the top of the cage for a right hand to the head. He STILL won’t cover so he goes up again (Heenan: “WHERE ARE YOU GOING???”) and gets punched out of the air this time.

Warrior goes for the door and gets it slammed on his head for two, as this just keeps going. Rude goes for the door as well but gets pulled back in, with the tights coming down in the process. This time Warrior pulls Heenan in and knocks him down, followed by an atomic drop out the door. Some clotheslines into the gorilla press lets Warrior escape (complete with hip swivel) to retain at 10:01.

Rating: D+. Not only was it a completely nothing match, but it was a match that didn’t stick around for very long. In this case that might be a good thing though, as Rude was a lame duck of a challenger as you could have. There was no one for Warrior to face and it showed badly, making this a pretty weak main event. It might have worked as a quick house show main event, but (allegedly) headlining Summerslam? Not quite.

Warrior celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Nostalgia plays a big role in this one but it’s actually a rather good show. They keep things moving and important things take place, including Hogan’s return and two title changes. It’s still the very tail end of the Golden Era and now things can move forward into the new era. It’s not a classic show, but it is a lot of fun and certainly memorable (at least for me), which is something I’ll take every time.

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Impact Wrestling
Date: June 25, 2026
Location: National Western Center, Denver, Colorado
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

It’s time for the last show before Slammiversary and as usual in that case, the show is mostly set. The World Title match is actually getting built up well enough, with Nic Nemeth getting under Mike Santana’s skin. Other than that, we have some more matches to build up, which should make for an engaging enough go home show. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Here are the Broken Hardys to get things going. Matt talks about the Wicked Garden changing them but that is a good thing, as they have now ascended. They have been rebroken by fate and they will get the titles back at Slammiversary. This brings out the Righteous, who talk about how they have beaten the Hardys over and over. Here they stand more enlightened, but Matt threatens more violence.

Cue the System, who mock the whole idea of the weird stuff the other teams are talking about. Matt promises to retain the titles at Slammiversary and the big brawl is on. The Hardys throw in a ladder and Jeff climbs up, sending everyone running before he can dive. Sweet goodness the idea of another ladder match, or even more of the Hardys vs. Righteous, sucks the life out of this story.

In the back, Order 4 comes up to Daria Rae, who doesn’t like what Santino Marella has been doing. As a result, the Great Hands are now in the Tag Team Title ladder match. Well that was random, but that’s what the ladder match needed: more people!

Ash By Elegance vs. Mara Sade

Indi Hartwell is on commentary and the Elegance Brand is here with Ash. Hold on though as Ash has to freak out over the fans calling her a mark and she needs a mental health break RIGHT NOW. Actually M By Elegance can have the match for her. Cue Elayna Black to watch from the stage as Sade hammers away and low bridges M to the floor. The chase is on and Sade gets in a shot to cut M off. Back in and M grabs a hanging cutter out of the corner before grabbing a quickly broken chinlock. Sade hits a superkick and everyone gets in a fight on the floor. Sade’s tornado DDT looks to set up something off the top but Black decks her for the DQ at 5:30.

Rating: C-. So the idea here was basically a bait and switch, I’m assuming as Ash isn’t ready to get back in the ring yet. Fair enough, though her having issues due to fans calling her a mark is hardly the best story. Hopefully Ash can actually get back in the ring sooner than later (her wrestling in headphones or something could be amusing) and Sade getting a bigger win would be nice as well. Maybe do the two of them at the same time?

Post match the brawl is on with Hartwell and the Elegance Brand getting in. The Undead Realm runs in for the real save.

Eric Young tried to show Ricky Sosa how things worked and was disrespected. It’s a test and Sosa will learn at Slammiversary.

AJ Francis vs. Manny Lemons

Lemons tries a shot from behind to start and gets AA’ed for his efforts. A running knee in the corner lets Francis mock Elijah’s version of Old School. The TFL and Down Payment finish Lemons at 3:10.

Rating: C. This was just a squash but seeing Francis doing Old School, just like Elijah, doesn’t it impressive as much as it makes it seem like a lot of people can do it. Other than that, Francis continues to be decent as a big man as he has come a long way in a short while. TNA is probably his ceiling, but given where he was, that’s not half bad.

Post match Elijah pops up on screen to say he and Francis are fighting at Slammiversary with his name and likeness on the line. I’m not sure if that’s how contracts work.

Harley Hudson vs. Xia Brookside

Brookside jumps her to start fast but has to block a backslide attempt. Hudson knocks her back down and does some pushups on Brookside’s back, only to get stomped in the corner. Brookside kicks her into the corner and cranks on the arm before kicking her face first into the mat. Hudson fights up for a running hip attack in the corner and a fall away slam gets two. The middle rope elbow misses though and Darkside finishes Hudson at 5:54.

Rating: C+. Hudson has grown on me a bit in recent months and she could wind up being a nice addition to the midcard going forward. On the other hand you have Brookside, who almost has to win the title on Sunday as otherwise, what else is she supposed to do? It’s been set up perfectly well and it’s not like Lee is some top level champion. Just go with the logical move here and figure out what is next.

Post match Brookside goes after Hudson again but Lei Ying Lee….quickly walks to the ring for the save. What a sense of urgency.

Earlier today we had a sitdown meeting between Nic Nemeth and Mike Santana before their title match. Nemeth talks about how Santana has had a great year but Nemeth has had 23 great years. Santana goes through everything he has faced over the years and the title is his reward for the whole thing.

Yes Nemeth has done everything over the years and he deserves credit, but Santana was the one who put this company on his back and carried it forward. People thought Nemeth was going to be that guy but Santana actually was that guy. Nemeth brings up Santana’s daughter, which makes Santana take his sunglasses off. Santana decks him and the brawl is on, with Ryan Nemeth offering a distraction so Nic can send Santana into the title on the table.

Here is Moose, with JDC, for a chat. Moose is ready for the No Surrender match on Sunday, where you win when the other person’s cornerman throws in the towel. He suggests that payback is a b****, just like Alisha Edwards, which brings out Eddie and Alisha to interrupt. Eddie talks about rebuilding the System into a better version but JDC says that wrestling has made Eddie sick in the head.

JDC brings up their daughter and Alisha gets in his face before yelling at Moose for getting played. She calls Moose a coward as he leaves, which brings him back in but they avoid the violence as Moose and JDC leave. That’s two segments in a row where someone’s daughter was brought up. Maybe come up with something else?

Video on Ricky Sosa vs. Eric Young.

Mr. Elegance/Frankie Kazarian/Cedric Alexander vs. KC Navarro/Leon Slater/Giovanni Vinci

Alexander does the eternally fresh and never overdone “tag out at the bell” deal and Vinci takes over on Elegance to start. Navarro comes in to strike Elegance down for two and a slingshot dropkick hits Kazarian in the ropes. Everything breaks down and the good guys all hit dives for quite the positive reaction.

Back in and Elegance stomps on Slater hand before driving in some knees to the ribs. Alexander comes in and knocks Slater outside, where Kazarian gets in some cheap shots before sending him back inside. Slater fights up but Kazarian pulls his partners down, which is always a smart move.

A spinning crossbody takes Kazarian out though and it’s back to Vinci to clean house. Elegance saves Kazarian from a Doomsday Device and Navarro’s high crossbody is pulled out of the air. Everything breaks down and we hit the parade of strikes to the face and knockdowns until Slater hits Elegance with the Swanton 450. Kazarian is right there to roll Slater up for the pin at 13:54.

Rating: B. I love a good fast paced six man tag and it was a lot of fun here as a nice preview for Ultimate X. That match is going to be all about going nuts and doing one crazy spot after another and we more or less got this here. Throw in Amazing Red on Sunday and it should be even more fun with all kinds of craziness, which is the point of such a match.

Here is Nic Nemeth for a chat. He doesn’t think Mike Santana will be at Slammiversary so let’s just make him the World Champion right now. Nemeth wants Carlos Silva out here to give him the title but Ryan Nemeth falls through the entrance and a bloody Santana shows up for the beating. Security comes in to hold them apart and Santana goes into the crowd to end the show. They’ve taken a pretty much nothing story here and turned it into a hot feud. That’s impressive and it had to be done given how big of a show they have coming up.

Overall Rating: B. The best thing I can say about a go home show is that it made me more interested in the pay per view than I was coming in. They made that happen here and now I want to see how things go on Sunday. The main event match and the big segment at the end were both good and I’m interested in Slammiversary. This weekend is going to be packed and TNA needed to step it up to not get overlooked. This show did a good job of going in that direction and hopefully they can deliver on Sunday. Nice job here.

Results
Mara Sade b. M By Elegance via DQ when Elayna Black interfered
AJ Francis b. Manny Lemons – Down Payment
Xia Brookside b. Harley Hudson – Darkside
Mr. Elegance/Frankie Kazarian/Cedric Alexander b. KC Navarro/Leon Slater/Giovanni Vinci – Jackknife rollup to Slater

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Global Wars: Cincinnati Week Two
Date: June 25, 2026
Location: Andrew J. Brady Music Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re back in Cincinnati for the second of what I’m assuming is two weeks of the show. It’s another case of the international stars showing up, along with AEW stars, who apparently count as guests. These things can be a lot of fun and hopefully it lives up to what we got last week. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

I was in attendance for some of this show, sitting in the ninth row on the floor with the entrance to my right.

Opening sequence.

AEW National Title: Ace Austin vs. Mark Davis

Davis is defending. Austin grabs the arm to start so Davis gives him a heck of a running shoulder. Back up and Austin low bridges him to the floor but Davis is right back in with a hard slam. A backsplash crushes Austin and he realizes he’s in trouble with this kind of power. Davis sends him hard out to the floor and Austin seems to come up favoring his hand, only to come back in with some chops anyway.

Davis’ charge only hits the corner though and Austin Russian legsweeps him into a legdrop. The Death Valley Driver with a squat gives Austin two and he kicks Davis in the head to cut off the running clothesline. They crash out to the floor and Davis hits the post but the Fold is blocked. A bridging cradle gives Austin two more but the big clothesline connects. Davis’ piledriver retains the title at 9:18.

Rating: B-. This was starting to roll at the end and it’s good to see Austin getting a chance. It would be better to see him win something, but at least he’s in a spot like this instead of sitting on the bench. What matters is that he’s getting in the ring and Davis gets to continue a rather nice roll.

Viva Van/Lacey Lane vs. Harley Cameron/Mina Shirakawa

Cameron is rather pleased with fans holding Mini Mones, which were somehow only made available after all these months. Lane and Shirakawa start things off with Lane taking her down into a front facelock. With that broken up, Van holds Shirakawa in the ropes for a running dropkick but Lane misses a charge in the corner. It’s off to Cameron with a high crossbody and a Shining Wizard gets two on Van.

Lane comes back in to catch Cameron in the corner with a running dropkick, setting up an armbar. That’s reversed into a belly to back suplex and it’s back to Shirakawa to clean house. A top rope double dropkick puts Lane and Van down and it’s off to the parade of knockdowns. Van kicks Shirakawa out of the corner and stereo running shots in the corner give Lane two. Shirakawa makes a quick running tag to Cameron though and That’s Her Finisher takes Lane out at 8:26.

Rating: C+. Cameron and Shirakawa are doing well enough as the team of two people whose partners left them and they happened together. It’s not like either of them have anything else going on so this is as good of an idea as they have. Give them a title shot and let them lose so we can move on to something else.

We recap the Women’s Owen Hart finals, with Athena helping Mercedes Mone attacking Maya World.

Billie Starkz vs. Syuri

They fight over a waistlock to start and Syuri hits a running knee in the corner. A running boot in the ropes knocks Starkz silly and her suicide dive is cut off with a forearm. Starkz is back up with a hanging Eye Of The Hurricane and a suplex gets two. A slap in the corner seems to wake Syuri up and it’s already time to trade the forearms. What was supposed to be a wheelbarrow bulldog doesn’t go very smoothly for Syuri but she’s able to grab a cross armbreaker.

With that broken up thanks to the ropes, Starkz plants her on the ramp but misses the Swanton. Back in and they trade rollups for two each but Syuri gets the cross armbreaker again. Starkz makes the ropes so Syuri kicks her in the head. The Electric Chair is broken up and a Last Shot gives Starkz two. The Swanton hits raised knees though and Syuri gets something like a reverse Octopus for the tap at 10:36.

Rating: B-. This was the match designed to give Syuri her win back after last week’s loss to Athena. The problem is it came against Starkz, which only means so much. At the end of the day, Starkz is little more than Athena’s lackey who loses just about every big match she has. Syuri is good, but she needs a bigger opponent.

Lio Rush is still creepy, but he’s now the TV Champion.

We look at the title match.

Action Andretti rants about how Rush shouldn’t have been in the match. Rush needs to enjoy his time with the title because Andretti is coming for it.

Premiere Athletes vs. The Opps

Nese poses at Bowens to start and Bowens is fine with posing right back. Bowens chops away in the corner and gets two off a quick suplex. Hook comes in and gets hit in the throat, allowing Beef to come in for a dropkick. A release northern lights suplex sends Beef flying before Shibata suplexes him on the apron and floor. Back in and Shibata grabs a Figure Four, with Beef grabbing the rope.

Nese comes back in and pulls Bowens outside for the group stomping. Back in and Daivari grabs a chinlock but Bowens is right back up with a running jumping Fameasser. Shibata gets to strike away as everything breaks down. Nese stomps Hook and Beef’s top rope splash gets two on Shibata. Some chops just wake Shibata up so he dropkicks Beef in the corner. The Athletes walk out and it’s the sleeper into the PK to finish Beef at 9:59.

Rating: C. Why was this on Global Wars? That’s been the question with three of the four matches on the show thus far, as Syuri has been the only star from outside AEW/ROH. Unless I’m supposed to believe that AEW is some big outside promotion, this has been quite the useless second week of a special in a long time. It doesn’t help that the Athletes feel like they’ve been in the same place since the start of ROH and the Opps are just sad without Joe.

Sammy Guevara brags about his success in Mexico with the Beast Mortos and he’s heading back to CMLL. Mistico can pick a partner and get a Tag Team Title shot. This will air next Friday on ROH, because apparently there’s an ROH show on Friday.

We look at Zack Sabre Jr.’s time in ROH.

Aaron Solo vs. Mike Nicholls

Like Sabre was going to be on this show. Nicholls starts fast and takes him outside for a drop onto the apron. A basement clothesline cuts off Solo’s comeback but he’s able to get in a suplex. Solo’s top rope double stomp gets two but Nicholls is back with a Deep Six for the pin at 4:25.

Rating: C-. This is a match that took place and I have no idea how this was the best use of someone like Nicholls. He won a squash match over someone who has never done anything important around here. It’s a case where the best thing that can be said is at least it was short, which isn’t a good sign in the slightest.

We recap Dalton Castle/The Outrunners vs. the Lethal Twists.

Dalton Castle and the Outrunners don’t think much of the Twists. Castle: “What the heck?”

Queen Aminata vs. Hanako

Aminata backs her up against the ropes to start and they trade shoulders to no avail. A shot to the leg takes Hanako down for the hips to the face and Hanako isn’t happy. They grasp hands and trade forearms until Hanako knocks her outside for the beating around ringside. Back in and Hanako Falcon Arrows her into the Boston crab, sending Aminata over to the rope. Aminata’s comeback is countered with a swinging suplex for two but Aminata kicks her in the face. The running kick in the ropes finishes for Aminata at 6:55.

Rating: C. Well, at least someone on her way to a title match in AEW didn’t lose this nothing match. I guess this counts as an international star having a big match against an AEW/ROH star as it’s not like there is much to compare it to. Aminata winning is a good thing, though it’s another ice cold match on a show full of them.

The Opps want a Trios Titles shot on Collision. These guys continue to feel pathetic.

Women’s Pure Rules Title: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Olympia

Purrazzo is defending under Pure Rules. They fight over wrist control to start until Olympia nips up and armdrags her down. Purrazzo realizes the power is an issue and goes with the wrestling, meaning it’s the Fujiwara armbar. Olympia makes the rope for the first break and knocks her into the corner for the slingshot Bronco Buster.

A basement dropkick gets two on Purrazzo and Olympia cranks on both arms. Purrazzo fights up and hits some running shoulders, setting up another Fujiwara armbar. That’s broken up as well and Purrazzo catches her up top, only for Olympia to gorilla press her down. A Last Chancery sends Purrazzo to the rope for her first break and the Fujiwara armbar retains the title at 8:52.

Rating: C+. Well thank goodness Olympia got the win here. It’s a smart thing to do when she’s on the way to a big title shot on a much bigger stage in three days. She’s been around AEW and ROH with middling results at best so giving her a win over someone like Purrazzo and establishing her as someone who matters and can win in an upset over a dominant champion is a great idea. Imagine how dumb you would have to be to have her lose in a taped show after giving her a title shot on the upcoming AEW card. That would just be plain ridiculous, so it’s great that she absolutely won here.

Overall Rating: D+. This was one of the biggest wastes of time that I have seen in years in wrestling. The matches were mediocre for the most part, the guest stars were barely a factor, the matches were ice cold and the ending result was idiotic. There was zero need to have this be a two week event, as a bunch of the matches here were just regular ROH matches that could have been on any given week. This was absolutely nothing and a big waste of the Global Wars name.

Results
Mark Davis b. Ace Austin – Piledriver
Mina Shirakawa/Harley Cameron b. Lacey Lane/Viva Van – That’s Her Finisher to Lane
Syuri b. Billie Starkz – Reverse Octopus
Opps b. Premiere Athletes/Beef – PK to Beef
Mikey Nicholls b. Aaron Solo – Deep Six
Queen Aminata b. Hanako – Running kick to the face
Deonna Purrazzo b. Olympia – Fujiwara armbar

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 1989
Date: August 28, 1989
Location: Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 20,000
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jesse Ventura

It’s the second edition of the show and again the main event is a tag match featuring Hulk Hogan and his best friend of the moment. In this case it’s Brutus Beefcake, teaming with Hogan against Zeus and Randy Savage. Other than that, the big story is Ultimate Warrior challenging Rick Rude for the Intercontinental Title. Let’s get to it.

Commentary welcomes us to the show and hypes up the main event.

Opening video, which might as well be any weekly TV show, albeit with some people doing….I guess you could call them Summery things.

Brainbusters vs. Hart Foundation

The Busters’ (with Bobby Heenan) Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line because they won the titles after the contract was signed, which is kind of a stretch to put it mildly. Hart and Tully start things off and Ventura acknowledges how good these two are in the ring. Anderson comes in with a drop toehold but Hart is right back on the arm. A hammerlock slam has Anderson in more trouble and it’s off to Neidhart.

The Harts take turns working on the arm but Anderson gets over for the tag…which doesn’t count as Blanchard’s foot was on the bottom rope. That’s not something you see very often. Anderson kicks Hart away and brings Blanchard back in, only for Hart to catch his kick to the ribs. The Harts start in on Blanchard’s arm for a change and even change behind the referee’s back as the referee is arguing with Anderson.

Blanchard’s chops have no effect and it’s back to Hart to work on the arm as Ventura can’t believe how one sided this has been so far. Blanchard reverses into a top wristlock but Hart bridges up (that’s impressive) and then flips away when Anderson grabs a double top wristlock (that’s impressive too). The Busters are double armdragged to the floor and Heenan wants a conference.

That doesn’t work for Neidhart, who throws Blanchard back in for a slugout with Hart. Blanchard manages to make a blind tag to Anderson and Hart is knocked down, but a Vader Bomb misses. Everything breaks down and the Busters are knocked outside again. Back in and Blanchard is sent face first into Neidhart’s boot and everything breaks down again. Neidhart is sent chest first into the buckle and Anderson gets to talk some trash. Blanchard grabs a reverse chinlock until Neidhart powers up, only for Anderson to come back in off another blind tag.

Back up and Anderson and Neidhart collide for a double down. That’s enough for Neidhart to bring Hart back in to hammer on Blanchard in the corner. Everything breaks down and Hart collides with Blanchard. Neidhart powerslams Hart onto Blanchard but Heenan has the referee. Anderson hits a middle rope ax handle and covers (while covering his head so the referee can’t tell he’s the illegal man in a brilliant move) for the pin at 15:57.

Rating: B+. Awesome match to start the show here with two all time great teams having an excellent match. The idea here was that the Harts were the better team, at least on this night, but Heenan (and then Anderson) cheating at the end was enough to turn things around. This was about two teams who knew what they were doing getting the chance to showcase themselves and believe it or not, it worked great.

Dusty Rhodes, in a snazzy hat, is ready for his match against the Honky Tonk Man. He hasn’t been this excited since his first date with Sally Good. Honky Tonk Man has been saying that Rhodes can’t wrestle and it’s time to prove that wrong. Rhodes was clearly having a blast here.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Honky Tonk Man

Jimmy Hart is here with Honky Tonk Man. Believe it or not, there is some stalling to start with both of them dancing a bit. Rhodes backs him into the corner about a minute in and hits a backdrop but it’s way too early for the big elbow. Back in and Rhodes works on the arm before messing with Honky Tonk Man’s hair. The atomic drop sets up an elbow to the head as it’s all Rhodes thus far.

Rhodes cranks on the leg a bit but Honky Tonk Man gets out and fires off some right hands. That’s broken up so Hart tries a distraction, which fails miserably as Rhodes chases him off. The distraction does let Hart slip Honky Tonk Man the megaphone for a shot to the ribs and the villain takes over. Hart gets in a bit of choking (Ventura: “Don’t you just love him Tony?”) and we’re off to the chinlock.

This stays on for a LONG time, with Ventura getting in a rant about how Rhodes is one of those annoying wrestlers who gets inspiration from the fans. Rhodes finally fights up and slugs away, looking a good bit like Apollo Creed in the process. Honky Tonk Man sends him into the referee so he calls for the guitar. Hart hits Honky Tonk Man by mistake though and Rhodes drops the big elbow for the pin at 9:42.

Rating: C+. I remember not liking this match very much before but, aside from the LONG chinlock, it really is a lot of fun. Rhodes knows exactly how to play to the crowd and make something like this goofy fun. The dancing turned it into a funny enough comedy match and I liked it more than I did in previous viewings. Fun stuff.

Post match Honky Tonk Man talks about Priscilla and Lisa Marie. He has a concert to do so someone help him find the stage. Yeah he’s fine.

Demolition and Jim Duggan (who is the King, meaning he has an American flag, the crown, a Demolition mask and an American flag 2×4 with a crown of its own) are ready for the Twin Towers and Andre The Giant. They’ve been flipping cars over and now it’s King Demolition, because Duggan wants to break things. Duggan’s look was so insane that I had fun with this.

Red Rooster vs. Mr. Perfect

They shove each other to start until Rooster right hands him back. Rooster’s slam falls backwards though and Perfect hits a heck of a dropkick. Back up and Taylor sends him outside for the slugout. Back in and Perfect grabs a PerfectPlex for the win out of nowhere at 3:25. Rooster hurt his ankle/knee or something in there, hence the short match.

Rating: C. Yeah there’s only so much you can do here with so little time and Rooster getting hurt in the middle. They didn’t have a choice but to go home in a hurry and that’s the best option they had. At the same time, Perfect was on the ascension around this time and you would be seeing even more of him in the coming months.

Rick Rude promises to make Ultimate Warrior into the Ultimate Liar. Bobby Heenan promises to do whatever it takes to retain the title. This wasn’t the original version that aired, as the Summerslam sign originally fell down, causing Gene Okerlund to swear. The wrong tape was played live and Tony and Jesse were caught completely off guard. Instead, it’s just a generic heel promo.

Rockers/Tito Santana vs. Rick Martel/Rougeaus

Slick and Jimmy Hart are here with the villains and there is a lot of talent in this one. Santana wants to start with Martel but gets Jacques instead. Everything breaks down in a hurry, with Santana and the Rockers hitting dropkicks to send the other three outside. Back in and Jannetty punches Jacques out of the air but a superkick cuts him off. Jannetty fights back up and brings Santana in to face Martel, who bails outside (for some hair rubbing from Jacques).

They get back in and a shot to the knee takes Santana down. A double back elbow has Santana in more trouble, with Martel firing off some shoulders in the corner. Santana gets two off a quick sunset flip but Martel chokes him back down. It’s back to Raymond for the Boston crab before Jacques adds an abdominal stretch. The villains take turns switching without a tag and Ventura, of course, loves it. The chinlock goes on but Jacques eventually misses a running knee to Raymond.

Michaels comes in off the tag and the fans go NUTS as he cleans house. Jannetty gets backdropped onto Martel and Jacques elbows Martel by mistake. Everything breaks down and Santana forearms Martel out to the floor. The Rockers and Rougeaus brawl on the floor and Hart offers a distraction, allowing Jacques to knee Jannetty in the back. Jannetty reverses that as well but Martel gets in a cheap shot and steals the pin on Jannetty at 14:58.

Rating: B+. This was an absolute hidden gem, with everyone involved working hard with a hot finish. The fact that I’ve seen the match multiple times and was genuinely expecting Jannetty to get the pin before the last second save tells you a lot about how good this was. You had some outstanding talent in there and they had a killer match here.

Long recap of Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude. Warrior lost the Intercontinental Title to Rude at Wrestlemania thanks to some cheating from Bobby Heenan so Warrior wants revenge. Rude attacked him early, with Andre the Giant playing security but not realizing that Warrior fought back. Later on, Warrior jumped Rude and beat him up for a change, only for Rude and Andre to beat Warrior up a few weeks later in quite the scary visual.

Warrior shouts a lot about the eighth wonder of the world and eating Rick Rude alive.

Intercontinental Title: Rick Rude vs. Ultimate Warrior

Rude, with Bobby Heenan, is defending. They circle each other to start with Rude realizing that he might be in trouble. Rude slugs away to no avail so Warrior clotheslines him out to the apron. Warrior knocks him to the floor, sending Ventura into a rant about how none of this is legal and how Schiavone is dumber than Gorilla Monsoon. Back in and Warrior hits a top rope ax handle for two.

The atomic drop gives us the required funny sell from Rude, with Warrior doing his own hip swivel. Rude gets in a cheap shot to the back and starts hammering away, setting up a suplex for two. We hit the reverse chinlock to stay on the bad ribs but Warrior is fine enough to block the Rude Awakening. Rude tries a sleeper instead, with Warrior countering but taking out the referee by mistake. Warrior hammers away and hits a powerslam but there is still no referee.

A piledriver gets a VERY delayed two thanks to the foot on the ropes. Warrior hits another running powerslam but the splash hits raised knees. Rude is back up with a piledriver of his own (though he knees forward like a Tombstone for a weird twist) for two of his own and he drops a top rope fist for the same.

Cue Roddy Piper (already having issues with Rude) as Rude hits another piledriver for two more (geez and I thought AEW killed that move)…and Piper distracts Rude by lifting up his kilt. Warrior German suplexes him off the middle rope and hits a flying shoulder into the gorilla press and Warrior Splash for the title at 16:03.

Rating: B-. While it’s not quite as good as the Wrestlemania version, this was another good match from two guys who certainly worked well together. That’s all it needed to be, with Warrior getting the title back on the way to his main event push. Rude didn’t feel like a flash in the pan and got a lout out of being champion, with what feels like an awesome feud against Piper coming up.

Sean Mooney is in the crowd and thinks this is awesome, even as Ventura rants about Piper.

Mr. Perfect calls the Red Rooster a stepping stone.

Roddy Piper laughs at Bobby Heenan’s loss and blows his nose before praising the Ultimate Warrior. OF COURSE he cost Rude the title. Why would you have expected anything else?

Ronnie Garvin, in a tuxedo, says he has a special assignment tonight but Bobby Heenan comes in to rant about how Piper had NO REASON to be at ringside. Rick Rude comes in and does NOT like being called the former champion. Rude rants about Piper and promises to be the champion again. Heenan wants the match started again and can’t even speak from being so upset.

We get a five minute intermission, thankfully cut out on Peacock.

We get a recap of Hulk Hogan vs. Zeus, which started back in May when Zeus beat him down before a cage match on Saturday Night’s Main Event. The idea was that Zeus was the villain in the movie No Holds Barred but wants a real life fight. Naturally he’s called Zeus (the character’s name) rather than anything else, because Hogan, real person, is fighting Zeus, the movie character. Maybe it’s better if you don’t think about it too much. Anyway Hogan hit Zeus with a chair to no effect but maybe he can make it work in a tag match.

Demolition/Jim Duggan vs. Twin Towers/Andre The Giant

Bobby Heenan and Slick are here with the heels (Big Boss Man and Akeem as the Towers if you’re not familiar). Duggan even has the American flag face paint in case the other four things weren’t enough. Demolition work on Akeem’s arm to start and pound him down as they are known to do. Ax elbows Akeem down but it’s quickly off to the Boss Man, who gets chopped in the head.

It’s back to Ax to hammer away but Boss Man manages a few shots of his own in the corner. Duggan comes in to start on the arm but Ax allows the tag to Andre, meaning it’s time for the real beating to begin. That’s broken up rather quickly and it’s off to Smash, who (rather easily) slams Akeem, only to get dropped by a single shot from Andre. The splash connects but Duggan blasts Akeem with the 2×4 to give Smash the pin at 7:29.

Rating: B-. I’ve long since been a Demolition fan and this was a good example of why. There was something so fun about watching them hammer people down, as they lived up to the idea of demolishing them. Good effort here, even if it was clear that Andre’s body was breaking down in a hurry.

Ted DiBiase, with Virgil, is ready to beat Jimmy Snuka.

Greg Valentine vs. Hercules

Ronnie Garvin is guest ring announcer, having been suspended as a wrestler and referee, and doesn’t think much of Valentine. Garvin introduces Valentine as “his so called opponent” with a pipsqueak of a manager named Jimmy Hart, who claims to be from Seattle, Washington and who Garvin thinks is overweight by about 30lbs. Oh and his robe is covered with cheap rhinestones and you can’t tell if he’s coming or going.

Hercules slugs away to start and knocks Valentine to the floor, including a beating in the timekeeper’s area. Back in and Valentine slugs him down but the figure four is broken up. A suplex goes to Hercules and he hammers away in the corner, only for Valentine to sweep the legs and get a cheating rollup for the pin at 3:04.

Rating: C. Despite my eternal dislike of Garvin, the feud with Valentine was funny and if he could have done a better series of insults to start, it would have been even better. The match itself was nothing, but dang it was funny watching Valentine getting angrier and angrier at Garvin. Fun stuff here, with the match being an afterthought.

And hang on as Garvin calls Hercules the winner, and after some consultation, Hercules is indeed named the winner by DQ. Valentine decks Garvin and slugs it out with Hercules but Garvin gets up and drops Valentine with the big right hand.

Randy Savage, Sherri and Zeus are around a cauldron and promise to destroy Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake. Sherri sees Hogan and Beefcake defeated and Savage sees…uh, the same thing. Oh and Elizabeth will be destroyed too. This is still one of the weirdest promos I’ve ever seen.

Ted DiBiase vs. Jimmy Snuka

Virgil is here with DiBiase, who brags about ending Jake Roberts’ career. DiBiase jumps him to start but Snuka fights back for a knock out tot he floor. Virgil gets decked as well and an atomic drop sends DiBiase over the floor (with one of his always great bumps). Back in and DiBiase shrugs off a ram into the buckle and hammers Snuka into the corner.

Snuka fights back until he charges into a hot shot, followed by a backbreaker. The falling elbow misses though and Snuka hits a top rope headbutt. Instead of covering he goes up though, allowing Virgil to offer a distraction. DiBiase is back up with a posting for the countout at 6:26.

Rating: C. Not much to this one, as it was little more than a midcard match between two guys who weren’t as big as they used to be. It seemed like more of a filler match to get us to the main event, which isn’t a great sign for someone who headlined this show last year. Not bad, but you could cut this from the card and not lose a thing.

Post match Snuka jumps both villains and hits the Superfly Splash on Virgil.

Sean Mooney is still in the crowd and still doesn’t have much to say.

Hulk hogan and Brutus Beefcake talk about….Moses and the parting of the Red Sea? Brutus talks about the sharpness of his blades and Hogan talks about some sexy legs wrapped around his motorcycle. Somehow, less weird than the cauldron. Not much less, but less.

The Genius reads a poem about Hogan and Beefcake losing because they don’t have the cards.

Randy Savage/Zeus vs. Hulk Hogan/Brutus Beefcake

Sherri is here with Savage and Zeus so Hogan has Miss Elizabeth introduced, freaking Savage out all over again. With that out of the way, Zeus chokes Hogan down to start and grabs the bearhug, with Savage adding a top rope ax handle to the back. Savage grabs a sleeper before it’s back to Zeus for the bearhug.

That stays on for a good while until it’s back to Savage, who gets suplexed down. It’s finally off to Beefcake for the running knee and a sleeper but Savage sends him into the buckle. Zeus comes back in so beefcake rakes his eyes and grabs the sleeper again. Sherri slips in the loaded purse though and Savage gets in the big cheap shot. The slow beating ensues with both villains getting in some choking.

Beefcake finally gets in a shot of his own though and it’s back to Hogan, who boots Savage to the floor. Zeus drops Hogan again so Savage comes in for the elbow….and Hogan pops up. Hogan slugs away on Zeus and a clothesline finally puts him down on one knee. Sherri tries to come in but Elizabeth shoves her in. Beefcake shoves Savage, with the purse, off the top. The loaded purse to the face rocks Zeus and Hogan slam him down. The legdrop finishes for Hogan at 15:12.

Rating: C. Maybe it’s the lack of Jesse Ventura as the referee, or a monster who knew what he was doing in the ring (not Zeus’ fault) but this falls pretty far from last year’s similar main event. I kept losing interest in this one and that’s not a good sign for the main event. If nothing else, it didn’t feel like some big blowoff, even with Hogan getting the pin on Zeus. Not much of a main event here, but to be fair they only had three wrestlers doing the work of four.

Post match Hogan and Beefcake hold them off with the sheers and CUT SHERRI’S HAIR. Posing ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show starts off great and then kind of sputters out near the end, but I had a lot more fun this time around than I was expecting. That was a nice surprise and at just over two and a half hours, it certainly doesn’t overstay its welcome. That first six man is more than worth a look and the opener is a genuine dream match from this era. It’s not an all timer, but it would have been very close with a better main event.

Ratings Comparison

Original: B+
2013 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B+

Honky Tonk Man vs. Dusty Rhodes

Original: F
2013 Redo: D-
2025 Redo: C+

Mr. Perfect vs. Red Rooster

Original: C+
2013 Redo: D
2025 Redo: C

Rick Martel/Fabulous Rougeaus vs. Tito Santana/Rockers

Original: B+
2013 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B+

Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude

Original: A-
2013 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B-

Jim Duggan/Demolition vs. Andre the Giant/Twin Towers

Original: C+
2013 Redo: C
2025 Redo: B-

Hercules vs. Greg Valentine

Original: F-
2013 Redo: D
2025 Redo: C

Ted DiBiase vs. Jimmy Snuka

Original: D
2013 Redo: D
2025 Redo: C

Hulk Hogan/Brutus Beefcake vs. Randy Savage/Zeus

Original: B-
2013 Redo: D+
2025 Redo: C

Overall Rating

Original: B-
2013 Redo: C+
2025 Redo B

Yeah it’s better than I said, especially Rhodes vs. Honky Tonk Man.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Evolve
Date: June 24, 2026
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Peter Rosenberg, Blake Howard

It’s time for another big show here with Succession III. As usual that means we have a pair of title matches, with Nikkita Lyons challenging Wendy Choo for the Women’s Title and Aaron Rourke defending the Evolve Title against Max Abrams. In addition, we have some fresh names debuting here, which should be interesting. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Aaron Rourke and company arrived, saying he owned Succession.

Max Abrams and the Mog Squad seem to disagree.

Nikkita Lyons, with Sloane Jacobs, is ready to win her first title.

Wendy Choo is ready to retain.

Opening sequence.

Women’s Title: Nikkita Lyons vs. Wendy Choo

Lyons, with Sloane Jacobs, is challenging. They fight over a lockup to start and even go to the mat without breaking it up. Choo switches over to a headlock to grind away but Lyons gets up and sweeps the leg. Back up and Choo gets in a Thesz press to hammer away, followed by a hurricanrana out of the corner. Choo sends her outside but Jacobs gets in a distraction, allowing Lyons to get in a kick to the head as we take a break.

We come back with Lyons fighting out of the corner but getting caught with a heck of a DDT. They get up and strike it out until Choo fires off some clotheslines. A hammerlock lariat sends Lyons into the corner and a neckbreaker back out of the corner gets two more. The sleeper is blocked though and Lyons hits an overdrive of all things for two of her own. Choo’s full nelson slam gets two more and the Dirt Nap goes on.

They fall outside with the hold not being broken so Lyons rams her into the steps for the break. Back in and a super Michinoku Driver of all things gives Lyons another near fall. Lyons punches her down and tries a Vader Bomb, which is countered into a powerbomb. The Dirt Nap goes back on so Jacobs puts the title on the apron. Jacobs’ distraction means the referee doesn’t see Lyons tapping so here is Laynie Luck to cut Jacobs off. Choo cuts off a belt shot and rolls Lyons up for two so Lyons hits her with a crystal. The spinning kick gives Lyons the pin and the title at 11:14.

Rating: C+. The match was ok enough and while I don’t get the appeal, it was pretty much now or never with Lyons. She has been around for a long time now and hasn’t won anything and that could only go on for so long. The match had enough shenanigans to protect Choo but she never felt like a top level champion anyway. Lyons gets her chance to do something though and that could be quite the run, one way or another.

Video on how important a title can be for an Evolve star.

KevOnStage, next week’s guest GM, talks about being a big fan his entire life but It’s Gal interrupts. He wants a match next week so Kev gives him Cutler James.

Kai Kavari vs. Kale Dixon

Dixon is hyped up as a veteran of THIRTY MATCHES in NXT and shoves Kaivari around to start. That includes some trash talk before Dixon gives him a reverse gordbuster before stomping away in the corner. A clothesline lets Dixon swivel his hips a bit and he drops Kaivari with a superkick for two.

The chinlock goes on, allowing commentary to make vegetable puns. Kaivari fights up and strikes away, with a dropkick knocking Dixon into the corner. A blonde woman (commentary doesn’t recognize her) pops up for a distraction and Dixon hits the 96 (a discus forearm) for the pin at 3:38.

Rating: C. Of all the people who get their names changed because a tag wrestler on another roster might have the same last name, the man named after a vegetable can’t get a name change. He can be as talented as he wants but that is a heck of a mountain to overcome. The match itself was fine, with Dixon seemingly getting something of a push in his debut. I’ve heard worse ideas, including naming a wrestler “Kale”.

We get a vignette of a woman whose face is all glitchy. She describes herself as the voice that keeps you awake at night and the nightmares you can’t wake up from. Evolve will fear the unknown and she is already here. Her face is imposed over a bunch of rather creepy images as she keeps talking about fearing the unknown. I’ve seen worse.

Evolve Title: Max Abrams vs. Aaron Rourke

Abrams, with the Mog Squad, is challenging and hang on as KevOnStage says all the Squad has is hair and muscle. They have a match against the ID team next week and it’s going to be an elimination match. What a time to make an announcement. After the Big Match Intros, and seeing Harlem Lewis in the VIP area, Abrams misses a running kick to start and gets stomped in the corner.

Abrams goes outside for a meeting with the Squad but gets taken out by a dive. Back in and Rourke cuts off a leapfrog with a flapjack before chopping away in the corner. That lets Rourke strut a bit (makes sense in his case) but the Squad trips him down on the apron. A flipping neckbreaker gives Abrams two and we go split screen for an interview with Lewis, who doesn’t like the interference.

Lewis acknowledges that Rourke is tough, but Rourke has never pinned him. When Lewis is done with Braxton Cole, Rourke is next. We take a break and come back with Abrams getting two off a missile dropkick but the Main Objective is blocked. A release Rock Bottom out of the corner drops Abrams again and Rourke scores with a corner dropkick. Abrams knocks him back and goes up but gets super powerslammed back down.

Rourke stomps away but bangs up his knee and gets sent face first into the middle buckle. Abrams catches Rourke up top and pulls him into a neckbreaker for two and it’s time for the yelling while punching. Rourke forearms his way out of trouble and catches him with a spinning kick to the face. Abrams gets in a shot of his own and falls on top for two, leaving them both down.

Back up and Abrams drives him into the corner and the referee gets kicked down by mistake. Rourke’s kick connects for no count so the Squad comes in. Lewis is there to cancel them out but Braxton Cole is here to pull Lewis outside. The Squad gets in a belt shot to give Abrams a rather close two and here are the ID stars to even things up. Abrams takes Rourke up top but gets dropped down, setting up the Molly Go Round to retain the title at 13:44.

Rating: B. This got better near the end when things went insane but it was only so interesting until then. Rourke has come a very, very long way and feels like the top star around here, which is a heck of an accomplishment. I was expecting Abrams to win here but it should let Rourke go on for a bit, even if Lewis seems to be waiting for him in the end.

Post match the ID guys and Squad have a staredown but security come in…and lay out everyone to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This definitely felt like a big show and that is nice to see, as the whole point is giving Evolve a special show. The good thing is they haven’t run these things into the ground, which can often happen with WWE specials. The main event got better as it went along and the ending is intriguing, especially with Thatcher gone next week. Good show here, odd vegetable man’s name aside.

Results
Nikkita Lyons b. Wendy Choo – Spinning kick to the head
Kale Dixon b. Kai Kavari – 96
Aaron Rourke b. Max Abrams – Molly Go Round

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6